He went to Bath and got his pardon; he procured a clearance for St.Thomas, where he freely announced his intention to take out a commission as privateer, and he fitted out his vessel as best he could.

Of men he had not many, but when he left the inlet he sailed down to an island on the coast, where Blackbeard, having had too many men on his return from Charles Town, had marooned a large number of the sailors belonging to his different crews, finding this the easiest way of getting rid of them.

Bonnet took these men on board with the avowed intention of taking them to St.Thomas, and then he set sail upon the high seas as free and untrammelled as a fish-hawk sweeping over the surface of a harbour with clearance papers tied to his leg.
Stede Bonnet had changed very much since he last trod the quarter-deck of the Revenge as her captain.

He was not so important to look at, and he put on fewer airs of authority, but he issued a great many more commands.

In fact, he had learned much about a sailor's life, of navigation and the management of a vessel, and was far better able to command a ship than he had ever been before.