“‘AILEEN—for that was her beautiful name—was like a child in my hands, and willing to do what I told her. Her governess—a lady of thirty, and kind, almost motherly—brought me vinegar and water, and we bathed the girl’s hands, much to her relief.

“‘Then I said she must lie down for an hour or two. I and my men would bivouac near to the sea-shore and return to-morrow.

“‘She would not hear of the scheme.

“‘“No, no, no,” she cried. “Your men are being well used, and they are happy. The negroes will amuse them, dance and sing to them, and find them good beds; and you must stay here to-night. I could not sleep if I thought you were out under the trees in the dark forest.”

“‘My soul seemed to thrill at these words.

“‘“And father, you know, will be back before sundown. Do you promise, Mr. Bassanto?”

“‘“I will, if you call me Miguel; no one calls me anything else.”

“‘“Well—Miguel,” she said, blushing a little.

“‘“Then I will stay,” I said, right heartily.

“‘Aileen was down by five, quite recovered, and presiding over the tea-table. She looked radiantly lovely, I thought. The tea was good, but I hardly think I tasted it, and how many cups I drank I really do not know.

“‘Well, Mr. O’More himself arrived just as the sun was going down like a huge ball of red fire, and apparently setting the forest trees in flames.

“‘A hale, hearty, red-faced Irishman, probably some sixty years or over.

“‘We told him the story briefly, and the tears started to his eyes.

“‘“God bless you, my son,” he cried, seizing my hand. “It was heaven itself that sent you.”

“‘Then he held out his arms, and Aileen was pressed to his breast.

“‘“I’ve never had trouble before—that is, not since the first days, when I and my dear wife landed here and began to form the plantation. Ailie was very young then. But Red Toad has ever been faithful, and has done us many a good turn. Once some pirates landed here. In two hours Red Toad had assembled his braves and cut off their retreat—and their heads too, for not one escaped alive. They are all buried here. They then seized the ship, and having landed everything useful, they burned her.”

“‘“I wonder,” I thought to myself, “what this honest fellow will think when he knows he is entertaining pirates at this very moment.”

“‘“Red Toad was a fearful savage at one time,” he continued; “but we have converted him to Christianity, and Ailie there has actually taught him to read and write.”

“‘Presently an old white-haired negro entered. “Sah,” he said, “Red Toad he ’rrive, sah. Anoder red man too, sah. Cally basket. Say he bling you one boo’ful gift.”

“‘O’More and I went out to see the chief.

“‘Certainly he was by no means prepossessing; and so tall and broad and strong was he, that he would have made a foeman worthy of any one’s steel.

“‘His English was as perfect as that of any Indian I have ever heard speak, and his politeness and apologies for the indignities which his “rascally braves” had offered to Miss O’More were both pretty and profuse.

“‘He bent his head in his hands, too, and begged most earnestly for forgiveness.

“‘“And you will punish these renegades?”

“‘“Punish they are. On’y five bad men in my tribe. One shot by he,” he pointed to me. “De oders I flog.”

“‘“But, my dear Red Toad, what is to prevent the same thing from occurring again?”

“‘“Dear white chief, snake is one ugly thing, but snake not much danger if he not able to put on his head in the morning. Behold the gift I bring you!”

“‘He lifted his finger, and two red Indians advanced solemnly, carrying a basket. They removed the grass that hid the contents, and I confess that I, for one, was shocked to behold the heads of the very savages we had attacked in the clearing. The sardonic grin of death still overspread their features. It was a sight I shall never forget.

“‘O’More briefly told the chief he was forgiven, and beckoned them all away.

“‘But we soon forgot the adventure.

“‘Then after dinner—and a delightful one it was—I was asked for my story.

“‘I begun by saying, “What will you say and do, Mr. O’More, and you, Miss Aileen, when I tell you plainly that you are at this minute entertaining pirates?”

“‘Aileen started, and turned red and white by turns.

“‘O’More merely lit his pipe.

“‘“Then the ships seen in the offing yesterday were pirates?”

“‘“Yes; they belong to my fleet.”

“‘“Were you the blackest-souled pirate that ever lived,” said O’More, stretching out his hand to shake, “you saved my daughter’s life, and I shall never forget you when I pray. But tell us all your story.”

“‘I did so simply and straightforwardly, as I have told it in these pages, mitigating only as much as I could the horrible cruelties of the awful murderer Morgan.

“‘Once again O’More shook hands with me, and so also, much to my joy, did innocent little Aileen.

“‘“Instead of being a guilty pirate,” said my host, “I look upon you as a martyr, living a life that is horribly distasteful to you for the sake of being able, now and then, to save from slaughter some of your unhappy countrymen. Nay, nay, you have nothing to regret or be ashamed of. But you say you now wish to retire.”

“‘“That I shall, if possible.”

“‘Then O’More told me his story. It was a very simple one. He too was going home, much though he loved life on the old plantation. One-half of the island really belonged to him, and he had amassed some wealth here.

“‘The evening sped away all too soon with talking, with music and singing; and having turned in, I hardly knew where I was until a bird, trilling a low, sweet song at my open window, awoke me, and I found it was broad daylight.

“‘When Aileen appeared at our early breakfast, she was dressed in plain white, with ribbons of blue, and hardly looked her age, which was seventeen. I seemed to love her better every hour.

“‘She was down before her father. We strolled in the morning sunshine, all among the beautiful flower-gardens.

“‘While still here, O’More himself came up. He was rubbing his hands and laughing.

“‘“Ha, Mr. Ferocious Pirate!” he cried, “I have news for you. I have just been up to the top of my timber tower, which commands a view of all the isle and the sea for twenty miles at least. Yes: and there isn’t a sign of your ship.”

“‘“How strange!”

“‘“You are marooned, my boy. But there is nothing strange about it. Your Admiral Morgan is a good sailor and a long-headed fellow. He knows right well there is a storm brewing that would wreck every ship he has if he didn’t sheer off and give the shore a very wide berth indeed.”

“‘And sure enough by noon that day the storm did come. It shook the great house till I expected every moment it would fall; it tore through the woods, rooting up great forest trees that had braved the elements for centuries; and it raised breakers along the island shore as high, I thought, as mountains. The sea, as seen from the tower, was all one smother of breaking, angry waves. I could not help wondering if it were possible for even our sturdy ships to brave that eastern gale.

“‘Even when the hurricane force of the storm subsided, it settled down into a steady gale, which lasted for a whole fortnight.

“‘And that gale, how I blessed it! For during this time I wooed and I won sweet Aileen O’More; and her father consented to our union six months after this, when both myself and they, we hoped, would be safe on Irish shores.

“‘But one day the admiral’s ship appeared, and cast anchor not a long way off.

“‘Oh that sad parting!

“‘It may be imagined; it cannot be described.

“‘Morgan met me at the gangway, and was evidently glad to see me.

“‘He appeared haler and stronger than I had known him for many a month, and attributed his resurrection, as he called it, to his limiting his drink, reducing, in fact, almost to nil.

“‘But he had a strange story to tell me.

“‘The gale had separated him from his ships, but he had given them orders before this that if they lost each other they should bear up for Jamaica. He had another reason for this. From all accounts the man-o’-war that was convoying the bullion-ship was so large and formidable that it would have been madness to attack her. He had ordered, therefore, a large English man-o’-war to come to his assistance with all speed. Meanwhile he had determined to depend as much on the fleetness of his vessel as upon anything else.

“‘The gale had been so terrible for nine whole days that nothing could be done; his fleet, tacking and half tacking—for the wind had a deal of north in it—must now be at Jamaica. But he had determined to look out for the Spaniard.

“‘Good luck, as he called it, seemed to favour him; for one wild morning, when the sun leaped red out of the ocean, tipping the foaming wave-crests with blood, lo! down to leeward, and staggering under bare poles almost, was the huge Spanish bullion-ship.

“‘And no man-o’-war was in sight.

“‘Morgan could see quite a host of armed men on board.

“‘The sight might have staggered some. It only made Morgan savage. It was like the red rag shaken in sight of a bull.

“‘He determined to lay her aboard.

“‘And he did.

“‘The helmsman brought her beautifully alongside, and next minute a fearful hand-to-hand fight was raging on the decks of the Spaniard.

“‘The enemy fought well. The pirates fought like fiends. Nothing could withstand them, and in less than half an hour the Dons threw down their arms and begged for mercy.

“‘Well, for once in a way, Morgan was inclined to spare life.

“‘But he had the gold brought up at once.

“‘It amounted in all to about three hundred thousand dollars.

“‘No wonder that the eyes of Morgan and his merry men sparkled with delight.

“‘But there was no time to lose. The great man-o’-war, which had got separated from her charge, might appear at any moment; then the tables would be turned with a vengeance.

“‘So the gold—it was contained in iron boxes—was speedily transferred to Morgan’s ship.

“‘“I’m going to spare your lives,” he told the captain of the Don; “but I must draw your teeth, so that when your man-o’-war finds you he’ll have to take you in tow.”

“‘Then at Morgan’s orders the small-arms were put on board his ship, also the ammunition. The large guns were thrown into the sea.

“‘Provisions and light wines were requisitioned, and then the rigging was hacked in pieces, and the sails and sheets rendered completely useless; so that when the admiral’s ship cast off from her, she rolled like a log in the water.

“‘That was Morgan’s story to me.

“‘“And now,” he said, “I have distributed a goodly portion of gold among my brave fellows, and I am going to hide the rest.”

“‘“And why?”

“‘“Why? because ten to one the man-o’-war will catch us. That we will be retaken by a British man-o’-war shortly I know, but I mean that neither the Don nor the Briton shall touch one dollar of this gold. Can you suggest a place?”

“‘“Yes; I know the very trees under which it can be hidden. Even the Indians never enter this part of the jungle, because they believe it haunted by fearful spirits.

“‘“But,” I continued, “the Indians are far away at the other end of the island, holding a war-dance. Two men besides you and myself will be amply sufficient.”

“‘To make a long story short, three hours before sunset that afternoon the boxes containing the gold were lowered into the boat, and we rowed on shore. There was no one to watch our proceedings, and we felt easy enough in mind.

“‘In an hour’s time, hard though the work was, it was finished, as far as the digging and hiding went.

“‘The next thing, however, was to take our bearings. This I managed to do most perfectly, partly by written descriptions, and partly by drawings of rocks on the sea-shore, and by measuring the distance inwards to the trees.

“‘It was dark before we left the shore, and I was rejoiced when a rain-storm came on, because I knew it would completely obliterate all our trail, so that not even a redskin would be able to find it.

“‘I gave Morgan the papers I had made, and he placed them in the locker on top of which he slept.

“‘But Morgan, as soon as he came on board, would not permit the men to go forward, and I was a little astonished, and I’m sure the poor fellows were, to find that they were placed in a prison cabin right abaft the captain’s own cabin.

“‘They had a plentiful supper handed in to them by Morgan himself, as well as a huge can of rum and another of water.

“‘We got up anchor, and stood out to sea immediately: for the wind had gone round, and was now fair for Jamaica; and as we had no great wish to encounter the Don, we took advantage of it.

“‘But now comes the horror which for ever after steeled my heart against the monster Morgan.

CHAPTER VIII.

“A DEED OF DREADFUL NOTE”—ALL SAIL FOR THE ISLAND OF GOLD.

“‘I was a little surprised that I saw no breakfast taken to the prisoners, and still more so when I went towards the door of their prison and found it ajar.

“‘I at once asked Morgan about the men. He smiled grimly.

“‘“Dead men tell no tales,” he said.

“‘Then he resumed his walk up and down the deck.

“‘I was horrified. Curses rose to my lips, but I did not utter them. I believe my hand felt its way to my pistol-belt, and I rushed down below for fear of doing something desperate.

“‘Morgan had murdered his prisoners, poisoned them and thrown them into the sea through the port, for fear they might tell to others the whereabouts of the hidden gold.

“‘I threw myself into my bunk and reasoned out all my plans.

“‘As soon as I went to Jamaica I determined to leave Morgan and his blood-stained fleet for ever and aye. I would put myself in communication with O’More, who indeed already knew my English address, and as soon as they reached Ireland and got settled, I should hurry across and claim my bride.

“‘I told Morgan nothing about this, for certain I am that though he liked me well as a friend, had he known I was about to leave, or desert as he would have called it, his suspicions would have been aroused: and for fear of that hidden gold being taken, he would have found means to murder me as he had to murder those faithful and honest sailors.

“‘Well, Morgan was an excellent commander, and a thorough fighting sailor, but he was very far indeed from being a good scholar.

“‘I determined, therefore, to punish him for the crime he had just been guilty of.

“‘“That hidden gold shall never be thine, Morgan,” I said to myself.

“‘Then I proceeded to execute a plan which I had well thought out.

“‘There in the privacy of my cabin I prepared a chart of the rocks, the sea-shore, the woods, and the haunted jungle, which to a casual observer in every way resembled the true chart I had given to Morgan. The figures and measurements, however, were entirely altered, so that with my new plan any one attempting to find the place where the gold was would be completely led astray.

“‘It was clever. I credit myself with being no fool.

“‘And now to change the two charts.

“‘Morgan’s locker was easily opened, so I chose a time when he had just gone on deck. I hurried to his cabin with a heart that thumped almost audibly against my ribs.

“‘Fortune favoured me. The locker opened easily, and very quickly indeed did I effect the exchange and rush away back to my own cabin.

“‘The real chart I now hastily sewed up in the lining of my jacket, and now I could breathe more freely.

“‘Indeed, once more did wave after wave of happiness flow over mind and soul as I thought of the beautiful girl Aileen O’More, who in a few months’ time would be all my own.

“‘We arrived in Jamaica in good time, and making secret inquiries, I found that a man-o’-war was leaving almost immediately.

“‘On her I secured a passage, and to her I transferred the gold I had in the bank.

“‘Then I went on board the pirate admiral’s ship to say good-bye.

“‘I had just received letters, I told him, that demanded my immediate presence in England, else I should lose a little fortune that had been left me.

“‘Morgan seemed much downcast. At all events, he said, I must dine with him that night.

“‘I promised to, but well I knew he would not permit me to go on shore alive.

“‘But I was as clever as he. I bribed the captain of the man-o’-war to hoist the Blue Peter, and have all hands on board that night. Then I sent a letter of apology, a long, kind one it was, telling Morgan that I dared not leave the man-o’-war, which might sail at any moment.

“‘Sly dog that I was, I even advised him to keep safely the chart we had made, and which could guide him at any time to the hidden gold!

“‘And now my story ends.

“‘I never saw Morgan alive again, and had no wish to.

“‘I am getting an old man now, and have more of this world’s wealth than I can spend. My life has been a very happy one with dear Aileen, and is so still.

“‘I shall never go in search of the hidden gold, but to this story I append the chart. The husband of one or other of our two girls, if ever they marry, may find out the treasure on Amelia Island. I leave the written story in a large box in an upper room, and that box I will never myself open or cause to be opened. Let whosoever finds it, if related by ties of blood to the Bassantos, do with it whatsoever seemeth unto him good.

“‘A dios! a dios!’”

* * * * *

Captain Reeves carefully put away the old yellow manuscript, and relit his great meerschaum. For a time he smoked in silence, then turning towards myself and young Miguel,—

“My dear friend,” he said to me—“for as a friend I look upon you—I need not say that I rely upon your not saying anything to any one concerning the story you have just heard completed.”

“That,” I said, “you may well do, Captain Reeves. I am a naval officer, and, I believe, a gentleman.

“But,” I added, “it is indeed a strange story, and had some men read it to me, I should have told them it was all a fable or romantic fabrication. Have you done anything yet concerning it?”

“No, but I mean to, and that right speedily, though I think it is but little likely that any party will be before us.

“My dear Gordon,” he added, “you are a sailor, and you have a long head of your own; do you feel inclined to join us in trying to unearth this gold? I will pay all expenses for our little yacht, our outfit, and everything else.”

I laughed.

“I am always well pleased,” I said, “to take up any scheme that promises adventure; besides,” I added, “a breath of the briny ocean would do me good, for I have recently come off a spell of very hard work.”

We shook hands.

“Miguel,” said Reeves, “of course I depend upon you. You may lose a session at the university; but you are a young man, and that you can make up.”

“Well,” I continued, “have you as yet formed any plan or scheme of procedure?”

“I have,” he answered. “But now, as the night is far spent, let us retire; and away on the hill to-morrow, with no one to listen to us save the titlarks, I shall lay it before you.”

* * * * *

To have seen us next day bringing down the ptarmigan and grouse in company with our ghillies and dogs, no one would have believed we had any grand gold-hunting scheme in our heads.

But as soon as luncheon was served, in a clearing among the heather, we gave our guns and bags to the ghillies, and telling them we should shoot no more, sent them home. One, we said, might return for the basket in a couple of hours.

We made a hearty meal; then once more Captain Reeves took up his tale.

“In this gold-chase of ours,” he said, “I have no intention to minimize the difficulties, not to say dangers, we shall have to encounter. As we have already seen, at the time or date of the hiding of the gold, the beautiful island of Amelia was almost all a wilderness, with many a jungle dark and drear. But there has been a change, and many a change, since then; and I am informed that it is now well populated, and has on it many a smiling farm, though much woodland still remains, and I am told that the larger and more ancient trees have been carefully preserved. There are, however, villages here, and a seaside resort called Ocean City. But, my dear friend Gordon, difficulties were made to be surmounted.”

“Yes,” I added, smiling; “or, like ninepins, Miguel, my lad, put up to be bowled over.”

“Well, anyhow, I’m going to make a good bid for success, and we can’t do more than our best, can we?”

“No, that we can’t.”

“Well, then, our search-ground, as far as I can tell, lies near a charming country seat called Citrona. Here is an extract I wish to read to you; no matter where I got it:—

“‘One mile from Fernandina, and an equal distance from Ocean City, lies the charming bayside estate of Citrona. It was once the property of James Casher, a gentleman of large means, who had a residence on it during a portion of the Spanish and British occupation of Amelia Island. In subsequent years, say from about 1885 to the time of his death, this attractive place was owned by the late Senator D. L. Yulee, who regarded the property as the most valuable suburb of the growing town of Fernandina. The property is now owned by Mr. Samuel Swann.’

“And now,” continued Reeves, “I have good reason to believe that in a plantation not far from this estate is our ground. But here comes difficulty number one. What excuse can we give for digging in mounds or elsewhere?”

As I did not answer immediately, he continued,—

“I have ever found your gentleman American a truly kind and hospitable sort of a fellow, and always willing to help a Britisher if he had it in his power. Well, now, I’m really afraid that a white lie or two will have to be exploited over this business; so I thought of casting anchor in the bay, and representing ourselves to be a party of enthusiastic scientists and geologists, engaged in anthropological and other studies, and so beg leave to open mounds here and there to unearth bones, pottery, and ancient armour.—Miguel, you will have to mount a pair of spectacles, and try to look wiser than ever you did before in your life.”

“That won’t be difficult,” said Miguel, laughing.

“I think,” said I, “that your plan is feasible enough.”

“Well, then, we shall consider it carried without a dissentient voice.—And now, Gordon, I depend upon you to charter for us a nice little steam-yacht. You are a doctor of science, at all events, and can talk science. I have studied a good deal, and Miguel, here, is also a student, so that our white lie will not be difficult, I think, to play up to.”

* * * * *

I lost no time in going south to Glasgow, and was soon fortunate enough to fall in with the very thing I required.

I wrote to my friends, with the result that they were soon with me in my hotel, bag and baggage, and by this time everything was ready. In a day or two we cleared away from the Broomielaw, dropped down the wide, romantic river, and next morning saw us not only safely round the stormy Mull of Cantyre, but standing well out to sea, skirting the northern shores of Ireland.

Though it was late in the year, the weather was clear and fine. Whenever a fair wind blew, we went ripping along before it; at other times we were under steam.

I confess that I for one felt somewhat anxious as we began to near the coast of Florida.

How would it all end, I wondered.

We had many a long talk about our prospects when there was no steward’s ear to listen, and we generally came to the conclusion that our chances of success were very fair indeed.

There was one thing, however, that I could not put my faith in, and do not even now, and that was and is Captain Reeves’s dipper.

This is an instrument which is carried along close to the surface of the ground, the long needle of which he assured me never failed to tilt if there be gold beneath the surface.

When we reached the bay at last we cast anchor. Reeves had a copy made of Bassanto’s chart and instructions, and this when we went ashore in a boat next morning he took with him, leaving the other on board; for to have lost the plans would have meant certain failure after all the trouble and expense we had been put to.

What will be our reception? Will our ruse be seen through? These were among the questions uppermost in my mind, at all events, as the little boat dashed through the water towards the beautiful beach.

CHAPTER IX.

IN SEARCH OF GOLD

WE landed at last, and telling the man to wait for us, we started off to make our first call. We were all fairly well dressed, though for my own part I should have preferred some other rig-out, had it been but the garb of Old Gaul (Highland dress), to that black surtout, white waistcoat, and broad-brimmed soft felt hat. I also wore an eye-glass. Reeves was similarly attired, and Miguel looked quite the clergyman all over, and wore a pair of most classical-looking spectacles. It was a beautiful house we approached, just a little inland it lay, square, with verandas, and surrounded by nice gardens, which, late in the year though it was, were still gay with gorgeous flowers.

“Is Mr. C. H. in?” said Reeves to a young lady who was culling a bouquet with a small pair of scissors in her dainty fingers.

“Yes, my father is at home, and will be so all day. Of course you will walk in. I shall soon find him for you.”

We smiled, thanked the young lady, who by the way was very good-looking, and were soon seated in a large and prettily-furnished drawing-room.

In a few minutes Mr. H. himself came in, holding our cards in his hand.

“Glad to meet Britishers,” he said frankly; “for mind we Southerners can never forget that your country had a leaning towards us during the great Civil War.”

“That I can testify to,” I said, “for my own ship was what we sailors call chummy ship not only with the Alabama, but with the Georgia and Florida; and once I and another officer had the pleasure of sending the big Vanderbilt, a Yankee who was looking for the daring cruiser, on a wild-goose chase of over a thousand miles.”

“Bravo! Well, what can I do for you?”

“We are what they call scientists, or savants, on the other side of the ocean,” replied Reeves. “They say the best study of mankind is man. Perhaps; but at present we prefer them dead, and nothing except bones.”

“I begin to see,” said our host.

“On this beautiful island of yours,” Reeves continued, “many hundreds of years ago, a strange tribe of Indians lived. They were probably different from any now in existence. So, too, were their arms and implements different. Well, we have it on pretty correct information that hundreds of these were buried in certain mounds which we possess the means of locating, and that with them rest their arms and implements. We wish, if permitted, to do a little in the way of excavation. Can you assist us?”

“I do not think,” returned Mr. H., “that there can be any mounds of interest on the patch I own; but farther back is the property of my neighbours, and I am sure they will only be too pleased to permit you to excavate as much as you please.

“Now listen, gentlemen,” he added. “To-day you must take luncheon with me all alone, and not trouble your heads about excavations or exhumations either. After luncheon, if you will allow me, I will drive you over the island.”

“We will be delighted,” said Reeves.

“Then you shall dine with myself and daughter to-morrow evening, and I will take care you meet just the landed proprietors that can assist you. The mounds you say are around here?”

“Within a radius of about three miles.”

“Capital!”

The luncheon passed off most pleasantly. Then our parson—that is, Miguel—and Miss H. found themselves by the piano.

Strange that under circumstances such as these two young folks always find out that the one knows precisely the same songs as the other. Well, most sweetly did they sing them too.

But yonder were the horses pawing the gravel, and very soon we were all off on one of the most pleasant drives ever I have had in my life.

The country seemed to me more pleasant now than it would have been in summer, for the air was cooler far, and there was no want of either trees, flowers, or foliage to gaze upon and admire. The farm blocks and the cottages, too, were all thoroughly American, and all the greater treat to behold on that account. It was indeed a lovely island!

The drive was a long one, and when we reached our little vessel that night, we were all just pleasantly tired.

But we were right well pleased with the progress things had made.

The dinner next day was a great success; the men we met professed themselves honoured at meeting savants from the dear old mother country, gladly gave us permission to excavate wherever and whenever we pleased; and not only that, but they made us promise to dine with them as often as we could spare the time.

“We want,” one of them said, “to make it just all one pleasant kind of a picnic for you, so that you may have reason to remember the cosy little island of Amelia.”

We were profuse in our thanks, and on the very next day we set to work in earnest.

It must be understood that not one of the three of us went by his real name. We were very cautious indeed. Even those I had hired the little yacht from knew us not, nor did any man on board know where we came from when we sailed from Glasgow. We were going on a pleasure cruise, that was all, and it was connected with the study of science. But we paid our few men well: they had plenty of tobacco, good food, and a fair allowance of grog. What cares Jack for anything else? As far, therefore, as our sailors went, we were safe. But we had to have labourers as well to assist in digging. Herein lay our chief danger.

As for the removal of the gold, although Reeves was as honest a man as ever I met, no thought that he was doing any harm in removing the doubloons, if we had the good fortune to find them, ever crossed his mind. The island had been British. It was taken from the British. The gold belonged by right to the Spaniards, moreover, and more particularly to that branch or family of them from which he was directly descended.

No; he should be but repossessing himself of what belonged to him.

Now, in order to make everything seem straight and real, after having engaged two sturdy labourers, we did commence excavating burial-mounds, and every evening we appeared on the beach, our labourers, two sturdy men and true, carrying boxes of Indian bones, implements of warfare and domesticity; so that it was soon bruited abroad that we were just a band of British scientists, which meant, to most, British madmen, making a collection of old bones that no wise man would pick up at his feet.

So things went on for over a week. And frequently, almost every night indeed, we dined at one or other of the charming houses or villas in the neighbourhood.

Very delightful evenings these were, and never shall I forget them. The deceit we were practising, however, rankled in my mind very much indeed, and often kept me awake at night till far into the short hours, as Burns would call them, beyond midnight,—

I never saw a happier young fellow than Miguel was at this time, however.

Nor did he hesitate a moment to tell me the cause of his happiness.

He was very much in love with his sweet little cousin Mina; and she, he said, with him. He had the half of a sixpenny piece, which he had broken with her before leaving, sewn up into a blue ribbon she had given him, and which he wore next his heart.

One of his favourite songs was that sweetest of lilts (which even Jenny Lind loved so), “Logie o’ Buchan.” And perhaps the dearest lines to him in all the song were these:—