CHAPTER XX.
BUSINESS.
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“He had rolled in money like pigs in mud, Till it seemed to have entered into his blood By some occult projection; And his cheeks, instead of a healthy hue, As yellow as any guinea grew, Making the common phrase seem true About a rich complexion.” |
The business which Captain Brand alluded to when he was about to partake of breakfast with his friend the padre was, in the first instance, to arrange some matters in the way of payment of debts to his compadre, Don Ignaçio Sanchez, commander of the Colonial Guarda Costa felucca “Panchita.”
Accordingly, when he rose from table, and after a whispered dialogue and reports as to the state of affairs in and around the den and island from the men at the signal-stations, he summoned Pedillo. When that worthy appeared below the veranda––for be it remembered that Captain Brand never permitted the inferior officials of his band to pollute his apartments, unless, perhaps, as in the case of his deceased subordinate, Master Gibbs, it was on urgent business––Captain Brand ordered his gig manned.
Pedillo threw up his hand in token of assent, and walked down to the brink of the basin to execute the command. Then, after a few minutes, Captain Brand lit a cigar, dismissed the padre, put on his fine white Panama straw hat, unlocked a strong cabinet with a secret drawer, glanced over a paper before him, and, making a rapid calculation, he caught up a heavy bag of doubloons, and left the house in charge of Babette. The captain always told his guests that his fellows had such love and respect for him that he rarely locked up his property, and never placed a guard at his door. The truth was, that his fellows––scoundrels, miscreants, and villains as they were––stood in such fear and dread of their leader, that they were glad to keep out of his way. Moreover, he never boasted or made any display before them, living on shipboard, as on shore, by himself, but always ready and terrible when the moment came for action; treating his crew, too, with the most rigid impartiality, adhering strictly to his promises and compacts with them, and never overlooking an offense.
So Captain Brand left his dwelling in charge of his dumb housekeeper 134 Babette, and tripping down the rope ladder from the piazza in a clean suit of brown linen and straw slippers, his beardless face shaded by his broad-brimmed hat from the sun, and the bag of gold on his arm, he jauntily walked toward the cove.
“Ah! good morning, my doctor! Glad to meet you! How are the sick? Doing well, I hope!”
“Quite well, sir; but I was about to call upon you in relation to the conversation we had last evening, and––”
“Pardon me, Monsieur le Docteur, but I have been very busy this morning, and am now going to see Don Ignaçio on matters of importance”––here the elegant pirate took the cigar from his thin lips and held it daintily between his thumb and fore finger in the air––“and really, monsieur, I am very sorry to miss your visit. But,” he added, with one of his usual smiles, “I shall be at leisure this afternoon, and in the cool of the evening we can take a stroll. What say you?”