"And did you join in robbing vessels, and killing all on board?"
"Hold on, my lad; you're a little too fast for me. You'll know in due time. The pirate captain seemed pleased with my promptness, and made me sign the book. I should have given a wrong name, only I had given the right one when I was hailed, though, for that matter, Sturdy isn't my right name. The captain told me, in a very polite sort of way, that if I should undertake to play them false, or interfere with them in any way, I should be pitched overboard. As this threat did not seem to trouble me much, he seemed to be satisfied that it was all right with me. In the course of a day or two, I got acquainted with the crew. They were mostly Spaniards, but there was a sprinkling of other nations,—French, Danes, Germans, and one Englishman."
"Were there any Yankees?"
"No, I'm proud to say there wasn't one except myself, and I wasn't there of my own free will. Piracy doesn't chime in with our Yankee notions, and it's my belief you'll find precious few full-blooded Yankees that are engaged in the business."
"How did you get out of their clutches?" asked Charlie.
"That's what I'm coming to by and by. For a few days we didn't meet a vessel, or, at least, one that was alone, and so would do to attack. I was glad of that, for I was ready enough to do my duty on board the ship, but I knew that, just as soon as we met a vessel, I should be expected to do my share of the fighting, and it went against my grain to engage in any such villainous business as that. However, I thought I wouldn't borrow trouble, but wait till it came, and then I could decide what to do.
"At last I heard the cry I so much dreaded, 'Sail ho!' from one of the crew, who had been sent aloft to give notice of an approaching vessel.
"'Where away?' shouted the pirate captain.
"'To the eastward.'
"Orders were at once given to change the course of the vessel, and to make for the stranger. As soon as she saw us she made every effort to get away, but the Red Rover was too swift for her. When we got within a short distance, I made out the vessel to be the Sally Ann, which had left port about the time the Peregrine did. I knew some of those on board very well, and the captain was an old school-mate of mine.