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Before the meal was concluded, it had been settled that a schooner lately a French privateer recently captured, and then in the hands of the dockyard people undergoing the process of refitting, should be hurried forward with all possible despatch, and commissioned by a certain lieutenant O'Flaherty, with Courtenay and myself as his aides, her especial mission to be the destruction of Merlani's stronghold, and the capture of as many members of the piratical gang as we could lay hands upon.
"At length an interview took place which proved to be the final one; and at this interview I saw your mother place a package in Merlani's hands, yield herself for a moment to his embrace, and then retreat precipitately to the house in a state of violent agitation. "It was then that, for the first time, a clear and intelligible explanation of these singular meetings dawned upon me.
Yes, there could be no doubt about it; the craft running down so rapidly toward us was none other than Merlani's schooner, the identical craft Courtenay and I had seen hove down on the occasion of our visit to the Conconil lagoons. Here was a pretty kettle of fish, indeed!
On Courtenay rounding to under our stern it appeared that he, too, believed the strange craft to be Merlani's schooner; like me, he had been temporarily thrown off his balance; and like me, also, he had just come to the conclusion that a bold front was the proper game to play, when the sight of our colours and our shortening of sail gave him his cue, and he had forthwith put down his helm and come round to take his part in the game of braggadocio.
The narrative of our sojourn in La Guayra did not, I regret to say, prove one-tenth part so attractive; but when we reached the subject of the Conconil lagoons, Merlani's treasure hoard, and the scheme of the Spanish authorities to at once possess themselves of it and suppress the piratical band, the interest again revived, and we were questioned almost as closely on this subject as we had been about the mutiny.
"Because, me bhoy, I intind to take a look in there and see what there is to be seen," he replied. "If you will excuse my saying so, I think you had better not," said I. "In my opinion it would be wiser to meddle with these other places as little as possible until we have beaten up Merlani's quarters.
Now this, I was afraid, indicated first, that the felucca was enacting the part of lookout; and second, that our late antagonists had effected a retreat to the Conconil lagoons, where they had probably united themselves temporarily with Merlani's gang; and I anticipated that, if this surmise of mine should prove correct, we should have our hands more than full in the forthcoming attack.
I withdrew, and making my way to Albuquerque's berth, begged permission of the owner to occupy it for an hour or two; which permission being obtained, I sat down then and there, and, whilst Merlani's story was still fresh in my memory, put the whole of it in black and white. This done, I thought it high time to look in upon Don Luis, who would, perhaps, otherwise think I was slighting him.
It had evidently been a place of some little importance; but, from Courtenay's account, it was not to be compared for a moment with Merlani's establishment.
Our attention, however, was soon distracted from this witching scene the exquisite beauty of which is not to be described in mere words by a noise of singing and shouting on Merlani's island. Presently a feeble flickering fame became visible on the sandy beach, which, quickly increasing in brilliancy, revealed the evident fact that a party of the buccaneers were intent upon a carouse.
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