“‘And now Morgan assumed entire command of the fleet, and a brave one it was—over a dozen huge ships marvellously well armed, and with crews in the aggregate numbering a thousand men.
“‘A thousand desperados! A thousand fiends incarnate, as the sequel will show.
“‘There was nothing that these pirates would not have dared and done. Some even proposed attacking and sacking the wealthy city of Habana; but wiser counsels prevailed, and the scheme was abandoned. But the inland town of Puerto Principe was marked down for attack.
“‘This town lies on the south side of Cuba, and was even then in a flourishing condition; but never expecting to be attacked, was not in much of a condition for defence.
“‘We sailed, and after a speedy passage anchored one evening off the coast.
“‘Had the admiral—Morgan—had the slightest inkling of what I was now about to do, and did do despite the fact of our long friendship, I should have been hanged without a trial.
“‘There was on board a Spanish prisoner; him I determined to liberate, and send to the far-off town to warn the poor inhabitants of the danger that was hovering over them.
“‘Luckily for me, the man lay in an out-of-the-way corner of the second deck, the night was very dark, and the men were carousing.
“‘I cut his cords. He divested himself of most of his clothing, and dropped silently out of a porthole into the sea.
“‘The danger, he afterwards told me, was extreme; for he could see the sharks in dozens about him, with eyes like fire, and fins and skins of phosphorescent light. Every moment he expected to be dragged under, and when he at last found himself on the beach he swooned. On recovering, he prayed long and earnestly, then set out on his mission.