Abruptly his manner changed.
He was like one recovering, taking himself in hand again. "If you
will go below, and get your gear and your woman, you shall presently
be sent aboard one of the ships of the fleet." He pointed to the
boat as he spoke.
She left him, and thereafter with Wolverstone, leaning upon the
rail, he watched the approach of that boat, manned by a dozen
sailors, and commanded by a scarlet figure seated stiffly in the
stern sheets. He levelled his telescope upon that figure.
"It'll not be Bishop himself," said Wolverstone, between question
and assertion.
"No." Blood closed his telescope. "I don't know who it is."
"Ha!" Wolverstone vented an ejaculation of sneering mirth. "For
all his eagerness, Bishop'd be none so willing to come, hisself.
He's been aboard this hulk afore, and we made him swim for it that
time. He'll have his memories. So he sends a deputy."
This deputy proved to be an officer named Calverley, a vigorous,
self-sufficient fellow, comparatively fresh from England, whose
manner made it clear that he came fully instructed by Colonel
Bishop upon the matter of how to handle the pirates.
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