wards it. We
soon found a boat, and telling A'Dale to keep a bright look-out around
him, I pulled down in her towards the _Diamond_.

Captain Davis, her commander, was surprised to see me thus early. I
told him the reason of my coming. He was inclined, I saw, to doubt that
the people whose conversation we had overheard were speaking about his
vessel.

"If they had been speaking English, Master Verner, your ears might not
have deceived you; but as they were talking Flemish, it is very likely,
that being a foreign lingo, you may be mistaken."

"But it is not a foreign lingo to me, Captain Davis," I answered,
laughing; "it is, I may say, my native tongue, and therefore I am not
likely to be mistaken."

"That makes a difference, to be sure," he answered; "yet still the
chances are they were speaking of something else. If they had had a
plot in hand such as you suppose, they would have been more cautious."

"When the wine is in, the wit is out, captain," I remarked. "At first,
I grant you, they said nothing to betray themselves; but when I tell you
that some of our chief nobles act just as indiscreetly, you may more
readily believe that such men as these might let out their secrets on
such an occasion."

"Well, well, Master Verner, I am bound to believe you; and as night
comes on we will have the men armed and on the watch. Still, I rather
think it will come to nothing; but, as you observe, it is well to be
prepared."

The crew were all Englishmen--twenty stout fellows; and, with
well-sharpened hangers in their hands and a supply of pikes, I hoped
they would have no difficulty in keeping any assailants out of the ship.
I told them that there might be a chance of that sort of thing, and
they all expressed their readiness to defend the ship to the last. I
mentioned to the captain what I had done.

"Oh yes," he said, "my dogs will fight well; there is no fear of that.
We were once attacked near the Straits of Gibraltar by a Salee rover;
and although the villains outnumbered my crew as three to one, yet we
beat them off, even though many of them had already gained our deck. We
shall treat these fellows in the same way, depend on that, whoever they
are."

A'Dale exerted himself so energetically, that before dark all the goods
were on board and safely stowed away. An officer of the Customs having
brought us our clearance papers, as soon as the tide served we were able
to sail. Having still some daylight, and