your astronomical
observations. Secondly, that you undertake to perpetrate no act of
piracy while I am on board. And, thirdly, that you will allow me to
leave your ship upon the first occasion that we happen to encounter a
sail of a nationality friendly to Great Britain."

"Is that _all_?" demanded Mendouca. "By my faith, but you appear to
attach a somewhat high value to your services, senor midshipman! I
spared your life; yet that does not appear to be a sufficient reason why
you should afford me the small amount of help I require without hedging
your consent about with ridiculous and impossible restrictions! I am
surprised that, while you were about it, you did not also stipulate that
I should abandon the slave-trade while the ship is honoured by your
presence! I am obliged to you, Senor Dugdale, for your condescension in
giving your distinguished consideration at all to my request, but your
terms are too high; I can do better without your help than with it, if
it is to be bought at the price of such restraint as you demand."

And he turned his back upon me and walked over to the other side of the
deck.

Presently he turned and re-crossed the deck to my side, and remarked, in
English--

"Look here, Dugdale, don't be a fool! In coupling your consent to help
me with those restrictions, you doubtless suspected me of an intention
to involve you in some of those acts that you deem unlawful, and then to
renew my proposal that you should join me. Well, if you did you were
not so very far from the truth; I confess that I _do_ wish you to join
me. I have somehow taken a fancy to you, despite those old-fashioned
and absurd notions of yours about conscience, and duty, and the like.
Why, if you would only put them away from you it would be the making of
you, and you would be just the sort of fellow that I want; you are pluck
all through, and, once free from the trammels of the thing that you call
conscience, you would stick at nothing, and with you as my right hand I
should feel myself free to undertake deeds that I have only dared to
_dream_ of thus far, while, with our views brought into accord, we
should be as brothers to each other. I am ambitious, Dugdale, and I
tell you that if you will join me we _can_ and _will_ revive the glories
of the old buccaneering days and make ourselves feared and reverenced
all over the globe; we will be sea-kings, you and I. What need is there
for hesitation in the matter? Nay"--