The Spaniard blew a thick puff of smoke from his cigarette, and still holding it between his teeth, while his eye glittered through the murky cloud, he replied,
“Perhaps a fortnight, a little more or less. I left St. Jago five days ago, with orders from the Administrador to run down this side of the island, and procure information for the English consul.”
“Any cruisers down that way?”
“Ay! the corvette ‘Scourge,’ and the ‘Snapper’ schooner; they arrived the night before I sailed.”
“Did you happen to see their officers, amigo?”
“Oh si! I had a long talk with the captain of the corvette at the custom-house.”
“Holloa! and you told him––”
“Yes; I showed him a chart of the Isle of Pines, and pointed out how to get into the old hole.”
Here the pair laughed short laughs, when Brand continued his questions with,