their quarters. At the gangway stood the captain, a thin, short,
wizen-faced man, with an immense moustache, who, as Norris appeared,
began stamping with his feet, and swearing roundly in Spanish--

"`Who are you? How dared you go on board yonder brig?' he asked.

"`I am an officer of her Britannic Majesty's frigate _Plantagenet_,'
answered Norris, having a good notion of the proper way to meet such a
fellow. `I obey the orders of my captain. He supposes her to be a
slaver, and if she is not, all I can say is, she is very much like one.'

"`She is not a slaver, but a pirate, and I have captured her under the
same treaty that you English take slavers, and she is therefore mine and
under my charge, and no one shall interfere with her.'

"`In that case, why did you fire at us, I beg to know?' asked Norris.

"`Because it was dark, and I could not see your flag,' answered the
little Don.

"`You could have seen our frigate, and you must have known perfectly
well all the time that the boats you were firing at were English,'
replied Norris. `My superior officer, who has taken possession of the
brig, wishes to see you on board her immediately.'

"While Norris was carrying on this conversation, the Spanish crew looked
so bent on mischief, and the moustaches of the marines curled so
fiercely that he expected every moment to be attacked, and he saw his
own men put their hands on the hilts of their cutlasses as if they
thought the same. They would have had to contend with fearful odds, but
I have not the slightest doubt that they would have made a good fight of
it, and perhaps have got off scot free, though they had not a pistol
among them.

"The Spanish captain considered a moment, and Norris heard him order his
gig to be manned.

"`Well, remember that my superior officer expects you,' he said, and
having no inclination to remain longer on board than was necessary,
ordering his men into the jollyboat, he came back as fast as they could
pull to the brig.

"He had just time to give me an account of what had occurred, when we
made out a Spanish boat coming towards us.

"I should have said by-the-bye that alongside the captain was an
Englishman, or a man who spoke English perfectly, and interpreted for
Norris--or at all events, helped him out with the conversation.

"I stood with my men ranged behind me, their shirt-sleeves tucked up and
their cutlasses in their hands, ready to receive my visitor. I
determined to s