at when you have heard it you will
acknowledge that I have ample justification for being both."

"Do not believe it, Don Fernando," I answered. "Your story is doubtless
that of some real or fancied wrong that you have suffered at the hands
of society; but _no_ wrong can justify a man to become an enemy to his
race. I will hear your story, of course, if it will afford you any
satisfaction to tell it me; but I warn you that neither it nor anything
that you can possibly say will have the effect of converting me to your
views."

"You think so now, of course," he answered, with a laugh; "but we shall
see, we shall see. Meanwhile, there is my steward poking his ugly
visage up through the companion to tell us that breakfast is ready, so
come below, my friend, and take the keen edge off your appetite."

It was on the day but one after this, that, about four bells in the
forenoon watch, one of the hands, having occasion to go aloft to perform
some small job of work on the rigging, reported a strange sail ahead.
The brigantine was still running before a fair wind, but the breeze had
fallen light, and it looked rather as though we were in for a calm
spell, with thunder, perhaps, later on. We were going about four or
maybe four and a half knots at the time, and the report of the strange
sail created as much excitement on board us as though we had been a
man-o'-war. For some time there seemed to be a considerable amount of
doubt as to the course that the stranger was steering; for, as seen from
aloft, she appeared to be heading all round the compass; but it was
eventually concluded that, in general direction, her course was the same
as our own.

As the morning wore on the wind continued to drop, while a heavy bank of
thunder-cloud gathered about the horizon ahead, piling itself steadily
but imperceptibly higher, until by noon it was as much as Mendouca could
do to get the sun for his latitude. By this time we had risen the
stranger until we had brought her hull-up on the extreme verge of the
horizon; and the nearer that we drew to her the more eccentric did her
manoeuvres appear to be; she was heading all round the compass, and but
for the fact that we could see from time to time that her yards were
being swung, and some of her canvas hauled down and hoisted again in the
most extraordinary manner, we should have set her down as a derelict. I
ought, by the way, to have said that she was a small brig of,
apparently, about o