Chapter XXII.
I FALL INTO THE HANDS OF PIRATES—HOW THEY TREATED ME, AND WHAT I SAID TO THEM—THE RESULT OF THE WHOLE ENDING IN A MELANCHOLY SEPARATION, AND IN A MOST UNEXPECTED GIFT.
My heart seemed to leap into my throat at the words; and turning round, I beheld a man of immense stature and fierce aspect regarding me with a smile of contempt. He was a white man,—that is to say, he was a man of European blood, though his face from long exposure to the weather, was deeply bronzed. His dress was that of a common seaman, except that he had on a Greek skullcap, and wore a broad shawl of the richest silk round his waist. In this shawl were placed two pair of pistols, and a heavy cutlass. He wore a beard and mustache, which, like the locks on his head, were short, curly, and sprinkled with gray hairs.
"So, youngster," he said, with a sardonic smile, while I felt his grasp tighten on my shoulder, "the villains have been balked of their prey, have they? We shall see, we shall see. Now, you whelp, look yonder." As he spoke, the pirate uttered a shrill whistle. In a second or two it was answered, and the pirate-boat rowed round the point at the Water Garden, and came rapidly towards us. "Now, go, make a fire on that point; and hark'ee, youngster, if you try to run away, I'll send a quick and sure messenger after you;" and he pointed significantly at his pistols.
