"It is not necessary; I reckon I would have done the same had our positions been reversed. Moreover, I am not much grieved over it. Long-Sword is a very decent sort of man—too decent to stretch a halter."
"You will do nothing, sir, to apprehend him?" gasped Jamison.
"Nothing!" said Marbury.
"And the seaman he killed, in cold blood?"
"Was the man married?—Yes? Then I shall give his widow a year's pay. For my part, I have had enough of pirates, and I do not propose to disturb this house party, especially the women folk, by hunting one who is trying his best to get away. You are at liberty, with your crew, to continue the search, provided it does not conflict with your orders. But Hedgely Hall is done with the buccaneering business—and, please God! it be done with her. Gentlemen, I must to the fields," and, with a curt nod, he was up in saddle and away.
"What are you going to do, Jamison?" said Parkington.
"Do, sir! what can I do? Follow down the coast, and raise the hue and cry—and, likely, find he has gone Northward! Devil's Ship! but it's a bad business."
"The pirate business is generally bad—in the end," remarked Parkington.
"If you do not catch Long-Sword, the chances are that some one else will," sympathized Plater.