I looked towards these gentlemen for an explanation. They were both laughing, and I looked in vain.
“Hennessy, too,” said the major, “has got a stab under the ribs.”
“Och, by my soul have I, and no mistake!” cried the latter.
“Come, Major—an explanation, if you please.”
I was in no humour to enjoy this joke. I half divined the cause of their mirth, and it produced in me an unaccountable feeling of annoyance, not to say pain.
“Be my faith, then, Captain,” said Hennessy, speaking for the major, “if ye must know all about it, I’ll tell ye myself. We overhauled a pair of the most elegant crayteurs you ever clapped eyes upon; and rich—rich as Craysus—wasn’t they, boys?”
“Oh, plenty of tin,” remarked Hillis.
“But, Captain,” continued Hennessy, “how they took on to your ‘tiger’! I thought they would have eaten the little chap, body, bones, and all.”
I was chafing with impatience to know more, but I saw that nothing worth knowing could be had in that quarter. I determined, therefore, to conceal my anxiety, and find an early opportunity to talk to Jack.
“But beyond the hacienda?” I inquired, changing the subject.