My father interrupted him:
"What's this, Captain Farraday? Do you speak of being chased? I had thought we were at peace with the world."
Captain Farraday discarded the listeners who had attended him so far and stumped across the Square, bellowing his answer in tones which brought shopkeepers to their doors and women's heads from upper windows.
"Chased? That I was, Master Ormerod, by as ——, scoundrelly a pirate as flouts the King's majesty i' the ——"
Here he perceived who accompanied my father. Off came his hat, and he made an awkward bow.
"Your sarvent, your Excellency! My duty, Master Colden! But I have no words to withdraw, for all I did not see who was near by to hear me. Aye, there is more to be said, much more; and matters have come to a pretty pass when the rascals come north to these ports."
Peter Corlaer and I joined the little group of merchants who were with the Governor, and the other curious persons hovered as close as they dared.
"But I find this hard to give credence to, captain," said Governor Clinton pleasantly enough. "Pirates? In these latitudes? We have not been bothered by such of late."
Captain Farraday wagged his head stubbornly.
"That's true enough, I grant your Excellency; and since the peace we have not been bothered by French privateers, neither. But the day'll come we fight the French again, and then the letters of marque will be scouring the Atlantic north and south. And by the same token, sir, I bid you remember the pirates are always with us, and clever devils they are, too; for if they find their trade falling off in one part they are away at once elsewhere. And the first you know of them is a score of missing ships and a mariner like myself lucky enough to give them the slip."