prisoners, burn her--and them, too, as far as he
cared--to destroy all traces of his handiwork and the possibility of
detection. Had he not thought it worth his while, he would certainly
never have attacked the vessel.

To tell the truth, the corsair was in a quandary; so, when the smoke of
the man-of-war steamer had melted into the air, he summoned Captain
Harding and the rest on deck again, and having their gags removed,
interrogated them once more.

"You say, captain," said he, knitting his brows and looking the skipper
straight in the eyes, to see whether he was telling the truth, "that you
have no money, beyond the few piastres and two or three English
sovereigns I saw in your desk in the after cabin?"

The honest seaman could not tell a lie even to an enemy and a robber as
this man was--at least, not unblushingly; so, unlike his usual way, he
could not face his questioner, but gazed down on the planking of the
deck as he spoke.

"No--that is, yes," replied the captain hesitatingly: it was very
different to his round, bluff way of bringing out his sentences with an
honest straightforwardness.

"You had better be careful," said the other in a threatening manner.
"It is strange that you should be bound to Smyrna for more cargo, and
not have the wherewithal to purchase it with! Have you got any more
money or not? Reflect, it is the last time I shall ask you the
question."

Mr Tompkins stood by unbound, while his fellow-prisoners had their
hands bound behind their backs, and their legs likewise tied. He
thought it a mark of the higher consideration in which he was held,
whereas the corsair considered he wasn't worth the trouble of binding,
being one who would not have the pluck to help himself or his fellows.
Unbound he was, however; and, anxious to ingratiate himself further with
those in power, the mate up and spoke, heedless of Captain Harding's
angry exclamation to hold his tongue, and the boys' cries of "Shame!"

"The captain forgets," Mr Tompkins said, addressing himself to the
corsair. "He might not have hard cash, but he has a draft, I know, on a
firm at Smyrna."

"Oh-ho!" exclaimed the pirate chief, a gleam of triumphant satisfaction
passing over his face for an instant, and then vanishing as he again
confronted the captain sternly.

"I thought an Englishman's word was his bond through the world," he said
in a scornful tone, which made the captain redden as his conscience
accused him of having