if he intends to keep his Belgian
colours flying. And, indeed, it would seem curious that two English
gentlemen should be cruising about in a Belgian trader. You may
take it that he is certain to put into a port for water and
vegetables, just as we have to do. There seem to be at least half a
dozen on this side of the island. He may have gone into any of
them, but he would be most likely to choose a small place. However,
at one or other of them we are likely to get news; and the first
thing for us to do is to get a good black pilot, who can talk some
English as well as Spanish."

"It is likely we shall have to take three or four of them before we
have done. A man here might know the Virgin Islands, and perhaps
most of the Leeward Islands, but he might not know anything east,
west, or north of San Domingo. We should certainly want another
pilot for the Bahamas, and a third for Cuba and the islands round
it, which can be counted almost by the hundred. Then again, none of
these would know the islands fringing almost the whole of the coast
from Honduras to Trinidad. However, I hope we shall not have to
search them. There is an ample cruising ground and any number of
hiding places without having to go so far out of the world as that.
At any rate, at present he is not likely to have gone far, and I
think that he will either have sought some secluded shelter among
the Virgin Islands, or on the coast of San Domingo."

When within a few miles of Porto Rico they lay to for the night,
and the next morning coasted westward, and dropped anchor in the
port of San Juan de Porto Rico.

A quarter of an hour after dropping anchor the port officials came
on board. The inspection of the ship's papers was a short
formality, the white ensign and the general appearance of the craft
showing her at once to be an English yacht, and as she had only
touched at Madeira on her way from Gibraltar, and all on board were
in good health, she was at once given pratique.

"The first thing to do is to get an interpreter," Frank said, as he
was rowed to shore, accompanied by George Lechmere. "The secretary
of Lloyd's gave me a list of their agents all over the world. It is
a Spanish firm here, and it is probable that none of them speaks
English, but if so I have no doubt that by aid of this signal book
I shall be able to make them understand what I want. I have a
circular letter of introduction from Lloyd's secretary."

He had no difficulty in discov