and
gave me a cuff on the head in consequence. I had not fancied that the
negro understood English, but from this circumstance I have no doubt he
did.

Peter gave a hitch to his trousers when the question was put to him, and
then vehemently scratched his head. "Look ye here, sir," he answered in
a firm voice, which showed that he had made up his mind how to act, "I
am much obliged for the treatment I and my shipmates have received since
we came to this place, barring the being kept inside a sort of prison,
so to speak; but you must just understand, sir, that I've been brought
up to be an honest man, and an honest man I hope to remain to the end of
my days; and so, as to taking any oath to turn pirate, or in any way to
associate with those who do, I'll not do it. So now you've my answer."

The pirate chief--for so I may as well at once call him--seemed to be
somewhat taken aback at this answer; but he laughed as I had before
heard him. "You _Rainbow_ lads have odd notions of your own about
honesty! We'll see what the rest of you have to say on the subject."

Mr Gale was next sent for. He, as may be supposed, at once refused to
join the pirates. The other men, fancying that we had joined them,
promised to do so; but it struck me that Captain Ralph did not look
particularly well satisfied at hearing their reply.

What his intentions were we could not tell, for he ordered us all at
once to be taken back to our place of confinement, under a guard of five
or six men, who stood outside ready for that purpose. What had become
of the captain puzzled us most to discover. We said nothing, however,
as we went along, for we were pretty certain that the people who had
charge of us perfectly understood English, if they were not mostly
Englishmen.

We remained two or three days longer shut up, in a state of great doubt
and uncertainty. Sometimes we fancied that we should be taken out and
shot; at others, that we might be set at liberty. However, I could not
help hoping that Captain Ralph was well-disposed towards us. What the
pirates were about all this time we could not tell; but we supposed that
they could scarcely remain idle, and if we were to make our escape at
all, we looked forward to the time when the greater portion were gone
away on some expedition.

We very soon got tired of not being able to see what was going forward
in the outer world. We accordingly hunted about the roof, to find a
spot where we coul