eers was an every day occurrence with him.

"Suarez," called the captain, "lay off and on until eight bells, then
call me. I'm going to take a nap. We can't make the inlet until
sundown."

Slowly Cuba rose out of the sea as the _Mariella_ ploughed her way
toward her shores. The long dark line began to take shape against the
azure sky and to form itself into hills and valleys. The dark mass
turned to a deep shade of brown and then to green as the brilliant
verdure of the island caught the rays of the sun. When they were near
enough to distinguish the contour of the coast line, the steamer's
course was changed and for a time she stood out to sea again.

"What are we doing that for?" enquired Bert, anxiously.

"Didn't you hear the captain tell Suarez to stand off and on until eight
bells? We are probably going to make a landing somewhere here, but it is
not yet time."

At this moment eight bells struck and without waiting to be called,
Captain Dynamite opened the door of the cabin and stepped out on deck.
Once again he had changed his costume and was now attired in white duck
and wore a white yachting cap. As a breeze blew his coat aside, the boys
could see that he still wore the cartridge belt and pistols. He scanned
the shore for a moment and then turning to the mate, who still stood on
the bridge, he said:

"Well done, Suarez. At sundown I will take her in."

The coast at this point seemed covered with a thick, tropical growth of
palms and high, rank weeds, interlaced thickly with vines that reached
to the water's edge. Back a few hundred feet the land rose abruptly,
forming the foothills of the mountainous inland. The boys looked closely
for some inlet or bay into which the _Mariella_ might steam, but there
seemed to be no break in the thick foliage so far as the eye could
reach. In the silhouette formed by the rising hills two palms, taller
than the others, stood out against the sky like lone sentinels guarding
the shore against invading buccaneers.

At dinner, the captain was in a particularly agreeable mood.

"Well, my young pirates, how are you enjoying your cruise?" he asked
jokingly. "It's pretty nearly at an end and all danger for you is about
past. In an hour or so we shall be safely within the sheltering arms of
Cuba, and I think it is about time I introduced myself to you. I am
plain Michael O'Connor, sometimes known as Dynamite Mike, but more
generally styled Captain Dynamite--at your service. I am