for good at last. For, indeed, it was come to his knowledge that some mighty powers had sent about him to the King of England, so much was his evil repute wafted abroad; and the King, to give satisfaction, - had declared that one day he should be tried as an enemy to the race of mankind, being a common pirate. And, alas, would not the world call me, and not unrightly, a pirate also?

But to rest was not in the nature of this extraordinary villain; and, indeed, so it seemed to me, who too felt myself a villain, because I felt myself so wicked and unhappy in the following of him. "Master," I said to him one day, when we were in a little boat going off to meet our pinnace in the offing, "will you never rest?" Then, for once, I thought that his face had a sad remorseful look, as he said, "There is no rest for me, Harry, in this world." Then I took heart of grace, and said, "Well, master, will there be rest for us in any other world?" to which he answered not so much as a word. That time he had to meet with some other captains of vessels, whether buccaneers, privateers, or pirates, it was all one in those days, with an intent to go over and sack a Spanish town on the continent or mainland. And at that time it was awful to see what our men did when they were mad with drink and fighting and cruelty. I remember that ladders were put up for an escalade, and very fierce was the fighting that day. And when the place was taken, worst of all was the way in which he would treat the religious in their holy places. For, indeed, I have seen pious women whom he struck down to the earth, and did even torture, because he thought that they had jewels hid in the convent. And doubtless he found, indeed, in that place some diamonds of great price,

and even he was most keen after the precious stones. I thought the poor ladies would suffer much more if the men became drunk; and I shouted out, "The Spaniards have poisoned the wine; drink no wine!" And Morgan heard me, and winked, and called out, "Yes, the wine is poisoned; drink no wine!" Not that he cared for what the men might do in their drink, but because he thought the little army would all be disabled by the strong drink, strong drink, and that other Spaniards might come in numbers and destroy both him and them when in that state.

'Now after a time he and his associates gathered together to make a dividend of the spoil that they had gotten. And truly, if there were many men, there was also very much and exceeding booty that had been obtained. And when the dividend was made, it was declared to each man that he should receive two hundred pieces of eight. Whereat there was great murmuring among the men; each man expected that he would receive at least four or five hundred pieces, which he deserved for his perils, hard fighting, and wounds. They said he had kept back too much money, and had put too little value on the precious silks and stones. To me, indeed, I thought he would have been more kind; I had ever fought very close to him, and, indeed, had nearly saved his life once or twice, when menaced, at the peril of my own. But he, in his hard voice, only said, "Harry, here be thy share;" and, indeed, it was worth the life of any man to murmur against him openly at any time. But, nevertheless, men spoke low to one another, and looked sullen, and there were confabulations among the crews of the other vessels. Then John Morgan crowded all sail and went off. He had kept well to the front,

for

'But he, sailing away, came that evening to the neighbourhood of the pleasant cayos, and here he went off in a boat with only me and a boy with him. His ship should cruise for a time under the command of the first mate, who, indeed, as I came to learn, did perform some memorable exploits on the high seas in the way of piracy and murder, and afterwards came to be hung at the dock of Devonport, nigh unto Plymouth, in England, a fair and most pleasant town. And here he lazed and lounged mightily. It was easy to see that he had his share, and more than his share, of good things.

'But it was the fate of this man that he should quarrel with the friendly Indians, who had always been peaceable and true to him, had helped him with his vessel, and tended cattle for him, and brought him fish and fruit. But he was not a man who could live in peace unless he knew that he had enemies to fight; nor could he ever make entirely his friends those who lived closest to him, even such a one as myself. Now these Indians trembled before him exceedingly, especially when he made his thunder and lightning, as they called the firing-off his musket, which they saw had a deadly effect. They were a simple folk. For on the mainland or continentby which I mean not the mainland or continent of America, but the vast island of Cuba-they do after this fashion: When there is a male child born to them they wrap

it in its swathings, and leave it near to the hole of some wildbeast. There they leave the child until they are quite sure that the beast has been near to the spot where they have put it. Perhaps the wild-beast may rend it, but not always. Then when the wildbeast has been near the child and hath not touched it, they bring it home and tend it carefully. But many children are lost by the wildbeasts or by the exposure, for they do this thing both winter and summer. And though they know not God, yet have they dealings with the devil. For certainly there are witches among them, such as are hanged or burned in our own assizes, as serveth them right. They have charms and incantations and the snake-like fascinations of the Evil Eye. Now there was such a witch who lived in a hut nigh unto a point in the isle of Cuba, whither our boat could go in a pleasant day of a summer's sailing. Indeed, to hear such mutterings and to see such eyes was to know for certain that she was a witch who ought not to live. I do not know that John Morgan quite knew that she was a witch; for, indeed, his mind was not set on deep questions of this nature. But he thought that the old woman was rich, for so he heard from the Indians; and, indeed, he had seen a rich string of pearls and other precious things, and he had in vain tried to entice them from her by strips of cloth and glass beads. Neither would she consent to give them up; for, indeed, they had not been found by the Indians, but had come from a Spanish wreck, and were used by her as a charm in her infernal business. But John Morgan was not a man to be balked in his lust by man, woman, or devil; so seeing her one day wearing the string of pearls, he chased her into a

wood and opened upon her with a drawn knife. As he stretched out his arm towards her throat she seized it by her right arm, and fixed her evil eye upon him, and cursed the right arm that was raised to slay her. None of which things did move John Morgan, for he cut her throat from ear to ear, and made off with the treasure.

'But that very night, as he lay abed in his little house in the cayo, there came a slight pain in the arm of John Morgan. And when he tried to sleep he could not sleep soundly, by reason of that pain, but had only broken fits of slumber. But, indeed, never more did he sleep again as in old times. For, always, he would awake with frightful dreamswhich thing had never happened to him before in all his wickedness -and there were great perspirations on him, and tinglings of the flesh even to excruciating torments, and an emaciation; and it was plain to see that his right arm was withering away, cursed by the Evil Eye. He said he felt the old woman eating away his heart and brain. Sometimes he would go and look on a little box, in which I thought rightly that he kept his treasures; but he would only sigh and groan mightily over it.

'And all this time we saw nothing of our friendly Indians, or those who erewhile had been our friendly Indians. And I think that the fear of them was heavy upon the mind of John Morgan. And now he was very weak and feeble, and could hardly partake of the turtlebroth which I made for him. And once he wept piteously over his shrunken arm; and weep I never saw him do in all former times; and day by day it shrank more and more, the bone being evidently decayed and dead. And even the young boy who was with us could have struck down John Morgan

if he had been so minded. And, indeed, it was plain to see that the great John Morgan was perishing bit by bit through the witch. But it was not destined to him to die in his bed as a Christian man; for one evening, as he lay on a couch covered with a puma's skin, outside his door, by the side of the pleasant stream, we saw angry eyes glaring at us through the wood. Then a file of Indians came through the secret path-not secret to them, for before now they had come to him hither on his behalf and behoof-and raising great shrieks ran at him with spears and instruments of sharpened wood. I, who knew all the intricacies and ways of the place, bounded off at once and lay hid. But they cut John Morgan limb from limb, and disembowelled him, and burnt his body, and threw the ashes to the winds. And so came to his end John Morgan. As for the poor boy, I never saw anything of him afterwards; but I once heard a strange story that the Cuban Indians had an Englishman among them who was a kind of king, and as much an Indian as any of them, neither could he speak one word of the English tongue.

'After I had seen those Indians go off in their boats or canoes, I returned to the house, which, indeed, I found devastated and in some places fired. Our beeves had been taken from the savanna beyond the woods with the costly stuffs, and nearly all the good things and the fire-water. But I found the precious box hid away where no man could easily find it, and I knew its whereabouts at least. And then I found the accursed necklace, to obtain which had withered the arm and finished up the life of John Morgan. And I could not prevail on myself to take that necklace, but I digged deep and buried the accursed thing

in the ground. But I felt no scruple in taking the precious casket; for had he not cheated me out of my dues as well as others? And being the only one who abode constantly with him, I had a sort of right to consider myself his heir.

'And here I continued not many days, having indeed enough to eat and drink, and clothe myself withal; but not having human creatures to speak to, and not even a dog for company, which may be very good company indeed. But before very long I spied, one day, a ship about two leagues to sea. Fortunately our boat was safe, hidden beneath boughs in a little creek. It might be an enemy or a pirate, but also it might be a fairdealing vessel; and better it were to run any risk than to become ill and die on the lonely cayo. So I put up a shoulder-of-mutton sail, more to attract attention than to gain the breeze, and betaking myself to the oars, pulled on lustily. I had filled my pockets with broad pieces, and was able to secrete the box of precious stones in my raiment. The vessel proved to be the Agnes, belonging to the Merchant Adventurers of Bristol, a very opulent and worthy body. I gave but a very lame account of myself how I had been cast away on the island-but such as it was they received it kindly; sailors being, according to my observations, of a sincere and simple kind, and not readily yielding to suspicion. For, indeed, had they known that I had appertained to the company of that notorious pirate Morgan, they would have used very little ceremony in hanging me up to the yardarm of the Ag

nes.

But so hospitable were they, that they refused even to take any pieces of gold from the rescued mariner. And, indeed, the captain of that ship showed me no little

kindness, for he asked me to come and see him at his home-a little house, with an orchard and a fair garden-by the side of the tidal Avon, under a gentle hill, looking across the narrow waters of the Bristol Channel, towards the Welsh mountains- from whence came that old friend and enemy both, John Morgan-and not far from Bristolia herself. He had a niece called Agnes, christened after the ship, who, though young and fair, married such a battered sailor and sinner as myself. By the advice of my wife's uncle I had also dealings with the great London banking firm of the Godsons. I had changed some diamonds into gold, for which, indeed, I got a rare price; but the rest I sealed up in a casket with some other property at the aforesaid bankers, the Godsons of Lombard-street. And, indeed, though I might be in a sore strait, I should have a mortal fear of resorting to that casket; for my mind grievously misdoubts but some of the jewelry were misbegotten by piracy on the high seas, and that the last of my days might yet be passed in Execution Dock.

'So I betook myself to my old craft of the shipping business, being part mate and part owner, for I held some fifteen sixty-fourths of the ship. But now I went out to the East Indies, and not to the West Indies, being desirous to put the whole compass of the earth between me and the evil days of John Morgan; and I traded honestly, and not without prosperity. Indifferently honest was I; for, alas, how the potency of our old habits clings to us most closely! For dealing with these Chinese barbarians and their junks, we Christians did not make much ado about cheating them in their business, or, for the matter of that, cutting a few throats, if it came