what we are about to do, I
think it is all plain sailing up to the time of our arrival in those
lagoons. We must carefully note every particular which Carera may point
out to us, and make a sort of chart, if possible, wherewith to refresh
our memories; after which it only remains for us to find our way to Port
Royal; and _that_, it seems to me, is the only item in our programme
which is likely to give us any very serious difficulty."

This closed the discussion for the time being, and we went on deck,
where Carera once more obsequiously joined us, much to our disgust; for
it seemed probable that, if this sort of thing was to continue, we
should find the fellow far too attentive to suit our ulterior plans.
We, however, made the best of the matter, and, finding that his thoughts
were wholly occupied with the trip and its object, we simply let him
talk about it to his heart's content, merely interjecting a remark here
and there with the object of directing his conversation into such
channels as would afford us the information in which we still happened
to be deficient. In this way we gradually--and with some little skill,
we flattered ourselves--acquired full particulars of the plot in the
carrying out of which we were supposed to be important agents, and which
turned out to be very much the sort of thing we had already pictured to
ourselves. The man Giuseppe was, we found, an Italian, who had made his
appearance in West Indian waters some five or six years previously,
first in the character of a slaver, and afterwards as an avowed pirate.
He was, according to Carera's account, a man of exceptional daring, as
wily as a fox, and a thorough seaman; and these excellent qualities had
not only raised him to the position of head or chief of the powerful
gang with whose fortunes he had identified himself, but had also enabled
him to carry on his nefarious business so successfully that he had
gradually acquired an almost fabulous amount of booty, and had at the
same time gained for himself--at all events among the Spaniards--the
somewhat sensational title of "The Terror of the Caribbean Sea." He had
established a sort of head-quarters for himself in a snug spot at the
head of the Conconil lagoons, where he had erected buildings for the
accommodation of his entire gang--part of which always remained on shore
to look after the place--and where he had gradually surrounded himself
with every convenience for repairing and refitting