" And Captain Jenkins
began to cry and wring his hands.

"Why, pardon me if you don't like the term, but I took you for pirates,
gentlemen--pirates and robbers."

"Dat is a good joke," said Van Graoul; "why, we thought you were de
same. And I am not quite certain that he is not," he whispered in my
ear.

He had, in the meantime, got a boat ready; and Barlow, with four hands,
pulled on board the brig. While he was away, we kept Captain Jenkins in
conversation, nor did he seem in any degree disconcerted at the
departure of the boat, which he must have observed. When Barlow
returned, he reported that the brig, though about the size and build of
what we supposed the _Emu_ to be, was, to all appearance, an honest
merchantman, without anything suspicious about her. The captain said
that he had come to trade with the natives in those parts; that he had
just got out of harbour, and he had seen no vessel during the day till
he had observed us rounding the point. His story was so plausible that
we were compelled to believe him: and after he had taken a good supper
with us, washed down by a bottle of wine, he returned on board,
declaring that we were first-rate fellows, whether we were pirates or
not. The next morning we commenced a strict scrutiny of the coast in
search of the _Emu_; and for several days we followed it up, but in
vain, and once more I was obliged to confess that I was as far from
success as ever.

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.

Resolved never to abandon the pursuit in which I was engaged, although
so often disappointed at the very moment that I thought success secure,
I continued cruising in every direction, among the numberless rich and
beautiful islands of the Eastern Archipelago. My friend Prior was for a
considerable time confined to the cabin. His wounds, and long immersion
in the water, had caused him to suffer much, and during many days he
appeared to be hovering between life and death. When he was
sufficiently recovered to speak without risk, he told me that his father
having lost the greater part of his fortune, he had resolved to enter on
a mercantile career, in the hopes of redeeming it; with that object he
had come out to the East, and having been sent, by the house in which he
was engaged, to Manilla, he took his passage in a Spanish merchantman.
One day they observed a dark low brig hovering near them; but her
appearance did not cause much alarm, as she was small and seemed
unarmed. The