No pirates were to be seen--even their boat was
gone; but as it was possible they might have hidden themselves, I did
not venture too boldly forward. Then it occurred to me to look out to
sea, when, to my surprise, I saw the pirate schooner sailing away
almost hull down on the horizon! On seeing this I uttered a shout of
joy. Then my first impulse was to dive back to tell my companions the
good news; but I checked myself, and ran to the top of the cliff, in
order to make sure that the vessel I saw was indeed the pirate
schooner. I looked long and anxiously at her, and giving vent to a deep
sigh of relief, said aloud, "Yes, there she goes; the villains have
been balked of their prey this time at least."
"Not so sure of that!" said a deep voice at my side, while at the same
moment a heavy hand grasped my shoulder, and held it as if in a vice.
Chapter XXII
I fall into the hands of pirates--How they treated me, and what
I said to them--The result of the whole ending in a melancholy
separation and in a most unexpected gift.
My heart seemed to leap into my throat at the words; and turning round,
I beheld a man of immense stature and fierce aspect regarding me with a
smile of contempt. He was a white man--that is to say, he was a man of
European blood, though his face, from long exposure to the weather, was
deeply bronzed. His dress was that of a common seaman, except that he
had on a Greek skull-cap, and wore a broad shawl of the richest silk
round his waist.
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