LAF. (reading.)—“I invite you, with your brave followers, to enter into the service of Great Britain—”
PIRATES. (threateningly.) What!
LAF. (makes a peremptorily quieting gesture; reads.)—“You shall have the grade of Captain—”
C. McW. Your property shall be guaranteed to you and your persons protected. (enter pirates carrying dining table and chairs.)
CAPT. L. And here (handing Lafitte another paper.) are instructions to me by Sir W. H. Percy, Captain of the Hermes, senior officer in the Gulf of Mexico. (pirates dress the table with viands and wine.)
LAF. (reads.)—“lands will at the conclusion of the war be alloted to them in His Majesty’s colonies in America”—
CAPT. L. And in addition, as you will see, thirty thousand dollars conferred upon you, payable at your option in Pensacola or New Orleans.
C. McW. You surely cannot let slip such an opportunity of acquiring fortune and consideration.
LAF. In a day or two—
CAPT. L. No reflection should be necessary. As a Frenchman, you are now of course, a friend of Great Britain.