ey
reached Bermuda the prisoners were assigned as slaves to some of the
planters most in favor of the Commonwealth. Four or five were allotted
to each, and Harry having placed Mike next to him at the end of the
line, when they were drawn up on landing, they were, together with two
others of the soldiers who had defended the tower of Drogheda with him,
assigned to the same master.

"He is an evil-looking scoundrel," Harry said to the Irish boy. "He
looks even more sour and hypocritical than do the Puritans at home. We
have had a lesson of what their idea of mercy and Christianity is when
they get the upper hand. I fear we have a hard time before us, my lad."

The four prisoners were marched to the center of the island, which
seemed to Harry to be, as near as he could tell, about the size of the
Isle of Wight. Their new master rode in front of them, while behind
rode his overseer, with pistols at his holsters, and a long whip in his
hand. Upon their way they passed several negroes working in the fields,
a sight which mightily astonished Mike, who had never before seen these
black creatures. At that time the number of negroes in the island was
comparatively small, as the slave trade was then in its infancy. It was
the want of labor which made the planters so glad to obtain the services
of the white prisoners from England. Many of the slaves in the island
had been kidnaped as boys at the various ports in England and Scotland,
the infamous traffic being especially carried on in Scotland.

When they reached the plantation the horsemen alighted in the courtyard
of the residence, and the planter, whose name was Zachariah Stebbings,
told the overseer to take them to the slave quarters.

"You will have," he said harshly, "to subdue your pride here, and to
work honestly and hard, or the lash will become acquainted with your
backs."

"Look you here, Master Stebbings, if such be your name," Harry said, "a
word with you at the beginning. We are exiled to this place, and given
into servitude to you through no crime but that of having fought bravely
for his majesty King Charles. We are men who care not greatly for our
lives, and we four, with seven others, did, as you may learn, defend the
tower of Drogheda for two days against the whole army of Cromwell, and
did only yield to thirst, and not to force. You may judge then, of our
mettle from that fact. Now, hark you; having fallen into this strait, we
are willing to conform to our