"
"Name of God!" swore the gunner, which did no justice at all to an
amazement beyond expression.
"If you please," said Mr. Blood, and thereupon those gentlemen of
Spain were induced without further trouble beyond a musket prod or
two to drop through a scuttle to the deck below.
After that the rebels-convict refreshed themselves with the good
things in the consumption of which they had interrupted the Spaniards.
To taste palatable Christian food after months of salt fish and maize
dumplings was in itself a feast to these unfortunates. But there were
no excesses. Mr. Blood saw to that, although it required all the
firmness of which he was capable.
Dispositions were to be made without delay against that which must
follow before they could abandon themselves fully to the enjoyment
of their victory. This, after all, was no more than a preliminary
skirmish, although it was one that afforded them the key to the
situation. It remained to dispose so that the utmost profit might
be drawn from it. Those dispositions occupied some very considerable
portion of the night.
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