'Not more than a dozen.'

'There should be thirteen, I think,' replied Rowland.

'And there probably would have been had not one of them had his brains knocked out this morning in a scuffle with one of your passengers.'

'Which one of them was it who dared to strike one of us?' asked Rowland.

'A devilish rum one, I can tell you, father. If I mistake not, his name was Henry Huntington.'

'Have you got him in custody?'

'Ay, he is safely confined in the cavern.'

'And I hope we shall have an opportunity to hang him,' exclaimed Rowland. 'And Mary Hamilton, is she too, safe?'

'She is, I believe, in the next room with Violette,' answered Blackbeard.

'Herbert, I have resolved that you shall marry that girl,' said Rowland abruptly.