aimed vehemently. "If you
touch a hair of his head, you'll not get a stroke of work out of me as
long as you live unhung."

This reply excited the laughter rather than the anger of the crew. The
same question was put to Devereux and Croxton, and answers to the same
effect were given. Still the voice of the majority was for hanging the
black. He, meantime, stood resting on his crutches, the most
unconcerned of all the actors in the scene.

"Well, then, the young Frenchman shall hang him," cried the hairy
savage, with a grin, seizing poor Alphonse by the arm. "Or stay--the
other two youngsters shall perform the office, while mounseer shall
fiddle him out of the world while we dance to the tune."

"No, you villains; I vill not play, if you hurt one hair of dat poor
man's head," exclaimed Alphonse, starting up with unusual animation. "I
vill play from morn to night, and you shall dance and sing as much as
you vill, but if you hang him, I vill casser mon cher violin into
pieces, and it vill never play more--dere!"

His address was received with much applause by many of the party, and,
encouraged by it, he seized his violin and commenced playing,
vigorously, one of his most animating tunes. The effect was
instantaneous. Many of the pirates leaped to their feet and began
dancing furiously one by one; even the more morose joined them, and old
Charcoal took the opportunity of hobbling off to get out of their sight,
hoping that if he could escape for a day or two, they might possibly
forget their evil intentions with regard to him. Still, Devereux knew
that, from their treacherous nature, as soon as the dance was over, they
were very likely, for the sake of the amusement, to hang him and his
elder companions, at all events, and to make slaves of O'Grady, Paul,
and Alphonse. While the excitement was at its height, the pirates, with
their frantic gestures and loud shrieks and cries, appearing more like a
troop of demons than human beings, a large boat was seen coming up the
harbour, pulled at a rapid rate. Her crew leaped on shore, and the
pirates rushed to meet them. A few words overheard by Paul served to
explain their errand.

"Our craft was sunk--we were pursued by a British man-of-war. Hardly
escaped them. Some of our fellows taken prisoners. Are certain to
betray us and to bring the enemy down here. Not a moment is to be lost.
Our only chance is to escape to sea."

From what he heard, Paul guessed that