Chapter 9 IMPRISONED.

Before anything further could be said on this matter Pedro's voice was heard at the door, and when Catalina was assured that he was alone she let him in, being herself very curious to know the ins and outs of the occupation, and, as the Marquis had really returned, what was expected of her and her charges.

'Thank heaven, Pedro, that you have come up! Tell me what all this means, and are we to be roasted and eaten alive by those cannibals, who are, I suppose, gobbling up all our stores?'

Pedro's face was doleful in the extreme, and not at all reassuring.

'In truth, Captain Morgan is our master now; and so I suppose we must make the best we can of the matter. He is very angry at the death of one or two of his men, and says we have broken our engagement. As if one could make engagements with such paltry ragamuffins! It seems we were never meant to resist, but I said it was by your orders, Se?orito. You remember that you would insist on taking us out to the walls, though our orders were to do nothing. Anyhow, Captain Morgan wishes you, Se?or Carlo, to come and deliver up your sword to him at once. He was going to send some of his drunken fellows to fetch you; but, thinking of the ladies, I interfered, and I said you would prefer to come of your own accord.'

'Let me come with you, Se?orito,' said Harry Fenn, thinking that he could perhaps soften the Captain's wrath, which, he had learnt by this time, was not to be despised, especially by a Spaniard, who would find but little favour in the English pirate's eyes.

Felipa, pale and utterly miserable, tried to dissuade her brother from going down below, but in vain. Carlo did not know the meaning of the word fear.

'No, no, dear Felipa; that would be the action of a coward. Besides, you might suffer for my refusal. This captain shall see that I am not afraid of his threats.'

'You will petition Captain Morgan for Carlo, will you not?' asked Etta, turning towards Harry. 'How is it that he lets you have your own way?'

'I know not. He took a fancy for me and calls me his godson, which is a title very little fitting. I often think that if my poor father could see me, and kind Mr. Aylett, they would indeed be astonished; and yet I have tried to do my duty and not forget my God and country in the midst of this godless crew. But trust me, even if I did not like this bold young Spaniard, I would do my best for your sake, young Mistress Allison. You should have seen how he scorned to budge a step.'

Etta smiled at these words, and then said impulsively, 'Call me Etta, and I will call you Harry Fenn. Seeing you is almost as if I were at home among my relations, who, my mother used to say, would love me dearly and would not let me want.'

But there was no time now for more words, even though the young people seemed to have much to say to each other. Carlo followed Pedro and Harry, feeling altogether angry and ashamed of his position. He was, too, a little jealous of Etta's evident happiness at talking to one from her own country; and besides, he could not bear to feel that he was himself virtually a prisoner in his own house; and yet, thought he, 'I have never delivered up my sword, and I have never owned myself defeated.' As for his father, he could not bear to think of him as a traitor to his king and country.

When they entered the hall Carlo was dismayed by a sight such as he had never expected to see in Santa Teresa.

Some long wooden planks had been laid on trestles and placed in two rows down the hall, and round them sat some forty or fifty of Captain Morgan's chief men eating and drinking voraciously. A dozen or more of the negro slaves waited on them, filling up their goblets when empty--a duty which was by no means light or infrequent. At a smaller table at the upper end of the hall Captain Henry Morgan was also enjoying what he considered a well-earned breakfast; for daylight was beginning to flood the hall, showing that the long night of anxiety was over. In the sky beautiful clouds tinged with every conceivable shade of crimson and gold were making lovely backgrounds for the tall palm-trees and the other forest giants; but of all this beauty the soldiers and the buccaneers thought nothing. Henry Morgan was anxious, now that he was in possession of the island, to secure it permanently for future need, and, as soon as he could, to send on some of his men in search of still more booty, the thirst for gold in these pirates being quite unquenchable. After a moment's pause Carlo walked proudly up to the top table, bent on showing no fear; yet what made the deepest impression upon him was, not the sight of the much-dreaded sea-robber, but that of his own father seated opposite to the foe, and being treated apparently, not as a prisoner, but as a friend, by the man whom Carlo hated as being both a buccaneer and an Englishman.

The poor Marquis, however, could not be said to look happy; he carefully turned away from Morgan, and now and then rose hastily from his chair and paced nervously up and down the small platform, muttering audibly, 'I did it for the best. There has been no massacre of the people. Who will dare to blame me? How could I do otherwise? Why has Don Francisco left me, and where is my son?'

'Marry! here comes the culprit!' cried Captain Morgan, seeing Carlo approaching. 'Se?or Governor, I suppose this young sprig is your son, and the one who led the assault before sunrise? The young scoundrel has a puissant sword and despiteful ire.'

'My son knew nothing of our plans,' said the poor Marquis, who in spite of his own conduct could not help feeling proud of his boy.

'Then, i'fecks, you should have told him. Some one is answerable for the death of two of my men and the wounds of several more.'

'Here, young sirrah! What's your name, and what do you mean by having gone out to prevent the entrance of my skirmishing party, when they held a pass from the Governor himself? Speak out, silly coxcomb, and tell me who set your thoughts agog in this manner.'

'I knew nothing of the pass,' said Carlo haughtily, 'and I was bound to fight in the defence of the castle. We give no quarter to our foes.'

'Marry! proud as a strutting peacock, eh? Ah, well, we'll soon teach you better. How now, Harry--what hast thou been about? Thou shouldst have taught this young pate more wisdom. I'll have no jesting from such a stripling.'

Harry did not answer, thinking silence the wisest course. The curious fancy which Captain Morgan had taken for the kidnapped lad was apparently without rhyme or reason; for Harry, though respectful enough, had never yet been made to act against his will and his conscience; and when some of the men would have liked to use brute force, and shake what they called the young fool's stubborn will out of him, Captain Morgan always interfered; he would not have the lad touched, he said, and whoever did it would have to answer personally to him.

Carlo, the Spaniard, however, touched no chord of sympathy in the Captain's breast. He heartily despised the Governor, who had been such a weak tool in his hands, and was rather glad to punish him through his son, as he had given a sort of promise that his person would be safe from insults.

'Ignorance is a very convenient excuse, young Se?or. By my faith, you are answerable for the death of two of my men, and should by rights be hanged on one of your own bananas; but, considering your youth, I will merely imprison you in your own castle. Deliver up your sword to me, sirrah! and, marry, you may thank me for dealing so leniently with you; 'tis more than you deserve.'

Henry Morgan spoke fluent Spanish, having had to mix much with the various traders of the West Indies. Harry Fenn, who could not well understand the language, though he could see the angry frown on the Captain's face, looked from the latter to Carlo, wondering what was being said. Then he suddenly saw the young Spaniard angrily lift his head and clasp his right hand upon the hilt of his sword as he exclaimed:

'I did but my duty, Se?or Captain, and I will never deliver my sword to any man, least of all to such rascals as you are.'

'Carlo, it is best to obey; pray do not anger the Captain,' called out his father anxiously. 'Silly boy! what can you do against all these men? If you persist you must abide by the consequences.'

At these words Carlo hung his head, but he did not answer, nor did he look at all as if he meant to give way; so that now Harry Fenn clearly understood what was taking place, and secretly much admired the Spanish boy; but he knew only too well that in the end he would have to yield. As well try to bend a full-grown oak as turn the iron will of Henry Morgan.

'And what good will that toy blade do for you?' asked the pirate captain, laughing scornfully; and when he laughed he was more to be dreaded than when he swore. 'It is no tried steel, young jackanapes, but a somewhat spick-and-span new plaything.'

'I demand a free pass for myself, for my father, and the women in this house,' said Carlo, not daunted, but flushing with anger; 'for it is a shame to remain under the same roof with such as you.'

'A shame! Come, enough of thy vapouring and huffing! We'll see whose shame it will be. Here, Cross, Simon, Watkins: seize that young scorpion and fling him into the dungeons here; for I guess there are some down below in which brave Englishmen have before now groaned away their lives. "A tooth for a tooth" is no bad saying, and in the dark thou mayest learn that "haste makes waste."'

'Prithee, Captain,' said Harry, rushing between Carlo and the advancing men, 'spare this young Spaniard: he was as brave as a lion under the walls, and bravery ought to find favour with you--he rallied a mere handful of men when there was no hope for him.'

'Pshaw, Harry! away, boy, and mind thine own business. I hear there are girls here, and that one is an English prisoner or slave: go and tell them to come here--that is work more befitting thee--and leave this boy alone.'

CARLO BEFORE CAPTAIN MORGAN.

In a moment Carlo was seized by the three strong, lusty men; his sword was wrenched from him; and with two long Spanish scarves his arms were bound tightly behind him, and in this helpless state he was dragged from the hall; whilst the Marquis, rising to his feet, protested in vain against the outrage to his son. The truth was that Captain Morgan wished to make an example of some one, and Carlo, being the Governor's son, would satisfy any murmurs his men might be inclined to raise at the death of their comrades.

All was now noise and confusion, for the men began loudly to make all kinds of requests to the Captain; and, seeing nothing would be got out of them in the way of going to seek for cattle and provisions in the island till they had finished their feast, Captain Morgan (who was a very abstemious man himself) left the hall, begging the Marquis somewhat roughly to show him over the place and to give him all the keys of the stores. Harry Fenn was also commanded to be of the company, which request he was glad enough to comply with, so as to get away from the sight of the carouse and the sound of the rude jokes and laughter.

In the meanwhile Carlo, struggling bravely to the last against his fate, and angry and indignant at his treatment, was carried down to the dungeon below, old Pedro being forced to show the way. Presently, after passing through dark passages, the porter opened the door of a cell-like chamber where no light was visible, and which looked most unfit for a living being, much less for the delicately nurtured Carlo.

'This is the only dungeon I know of,' grumbled Pedro; 'and many a pirate has made acquaintance with it,' he added in a low voice. 'Would that I could lock up many more!'

'I fancy this will be good enough,' said Simon in a French accent. 'Here, fellow, give me the key and let me lock it myself; there's no treachery these Spaniards are not equal to. Bum! that will do; the silly boy is safe enough.'

'Take it, then,' growled Pedro, 'it locks well enough;' but as he delivered up the key he thought with a smile on his face, 'but there's sometimes more doors than one even in a dungeon.'