When he's playin' off fer good he's as soft an' sweet as a dandy in Picadilly, an' when he's real he's like a devil in hell." "Was you a prisoner--or did you sail under him ?" "Both, fer the matter o' thet.

He give me the choice ter serve, er walk the plank.

I wus eighteen, an' hed an ol' mother at Deal." "I see; but later you got away ?" "Ay, I did thet," chuckling over the recollection.

"But I hed ter wait eight months fer the luck.

Hev ye ever been sea-farin' down in them waters, off the West Indies ?" "No." "Well, they're all studded over with little islands--cays, they call 'em down thare; an' it's in among them thet the buccaneers hide away, an' sorter rest up after a cruise.