, Blood raked the haze, expecting
at any moment to behold the battling ships, the guns abruptly ceased.

They held to their course, nevertheless, with all hands on deck,
eagerly, anxiously scanning the sea ahead. And presently an object
loomed into view, which soon defined itself for a great ship on fire. As
the Arabella with the Elizabeth following closely raced nearer on their
north-westerly tack, the outlines of the blazing vessel grew clearer.
Presently her masts stood out sharp and black above the smoke and
flames, and through his telescope Blood made out plainly the pennon of
St. George fluttering from her maintop.

"An English ship!" he cried.

He scanned the seas for the conqueror in the battle of which this grim
evidence was added to that of the sounds they had heard, and when
at last, as they drew closer to the doomed vessel, they made out the
shadowy outlines of three tall ships, some three or four miles away,
standing in toward Port Royal, the first and natural assumption was
that these ships must belong to the Jamaica fleet, and that the burning
vessel was a defeated buccaneer, and because of this they sped on to
pick up the three boats that were standing away from the blazing hulk.
But Pitt, who through the telescope was examining the receding squadron,
observed things apparent only to the eye of the trained mariner, and
made the incredible announcement that the largest of these three vessels
was Rivarol's Victorieuse.

They took in sail and hove to as they came up with the drifting boats,
laden to capacity with survivors. And there were others adrift on some
of the spars and wreckage with which the sea was strewn, who must be
rescued.

CHAPTER XXIX. THE SERVICE OF KING WILLIAM

One of the boats bumped alongside the Arabella, and up the entrance
ladder came first a slight, spruce little gentleman in a coat of
mulberry satin laced with gold, whose wizened, yellow, rather peevish
face was framed in a heavy black periwig. His modish and costly apparel
had nowise suffered by the adventure through which he had passed, and
he carried himself with the easy assurance of a man of rank. Here, quite
clearly, was no buccaneer. He was closely followed by one who in every
particular, save that of age, was his physical opposite, corpulent in
a brawny, vigorous way, with a full, round, weather-beaten face whose
mouth was humourous and whose eyes were blue and twinkling. He was
well dressed without fripperies,