ps two miles and a half."

"Deep water everywhere?"

"Plenty of water; can anchor close to shore. Country boats run in
here very often if bad weather comes on. Foreign ships never come
here. They always run on to the town."

"You told us that there were a few huts at the end."

"Yes, sir. There is a village there, two others near."

The crew had all armed themselves, and the muskets were again
placed ready for use.

"You had better go round, Hawkins," Frank said, "and tell them that
on no account is a shot to be fired unless I give orders. Tell the
men that I am just as anxious to fight as they are, and that if
they give us a shadow of excuse we will board them."

"I went round among the men half an hour ago, sir, and told them
how the land lay, and Lechmere has been doing the same. They all
want to fight, but I have made them see that it might be a very
awkward business for us all."

The men in the boats were told to take it easy, and it was the best
part of an hour before they saw, on turning the last bend, the
brigantine lying at anchor a little more than a quarter of a mile
away.

"She looks full of men," Frank exclaimed, as turned his glasses
upon her.

"Yes, sir," said the captain, who was using a powerful telescope,
"they are blacks. There must be fifty of them beside the crew, and
as far as I can see most of them are armed."

"That explains why he came in here, Hawkins. They have been using
this place for the last three weeks, and no doubt have made good
friends with the negroes. I dare say Carthew has spent his money
freely on them.

"Well, this settles it. We would attack them at sea without
hesitation, however many blacks there might be on board, but to do
so now would be the height of folly. Five of our men are certainly
not fit for fighting, so that their strength in whites is nearly
equal to ours. They have got those two little cannon, which would
probably reduce our number a bit before we got alongside, and with
fifty blacks to help them it is very doubtful whether we should be
able to take them by boarding. Certainly we could not do so without
very heavy loss.

"We will anchor about two hundred and fifty yards outside her. As
long as she lies quiet there we will leave her alone. If she tries
to make off we will board her at once. Anchor with the kedge; that
will hold her here. Have a buoy on the cable and have it ready to
slip at a moment's notice, and the sails all ready to hoist."