And was it their intention to put the money at interest, the costly fabrics in shops to be sold by the yard? No indeed, their custom was to drink till the last gold coin was squandered. Whoever laid aside his share of the booty was a traitor, and whoever withdrew with his money to lead a respectable life, they killed.
This habit of the pirates was well-known on shore. They came on land only when they had money and wanted to spend their treasure in the shortest possible time. On the sea men trembled before them, on shore they received them with open arms. There are documents proving that on the islands near Surinam the highest officials vied with one another in their hospitality to the pirates.
True the corsairs, in a single fortnight, spent eight thousand gold moidores, and the women of the city, from the highest lady to the lowest servant wench, were clad in silks and cashmeres, while the costly pearls destined for the fair neck of Her Majesty the Queen of Portugal clasped that of the Regent's wife; indeed there were gala entertainments from the halls of the governor's residence to the lowest hut, and the pirates went from one to another, here a gentleman and there a lout, carousing, dancing, fighting, and love-making all day long. For an entire fortnight there was neither night nor day, only one continuous revel, a sea of pleasure whose depths no man could sound.
Then, when all joys were exhausted, that is, when the last moidore had slipped through their fingers, the pirates went back to their ships, rubbed their eyes, and looked about for more work.
They received tidings of a richly laden brigantine which was approaching the coast. Towards evening the helmsman saw the ship on the horizon.
"Caution!" warned Barthelemy. "If they see us, they will have time to escape. Let the two ships remain here under Lieutenant Kennedy's command, while forty picked men go on board the sloop with me. Then we can approach the brigantine unsuspected."
He himself chose his men, among them Skyrme, Scudamore, the mate Henry Glasby, Asphlant, Moody, and Simpson, and felt so sure of capturing the brigantine before morning that, contrary to his custom, he did not see that the sloop was provided with a sufficient supply of provisions.
The night was dark and all through the long hours the sloop fairly flew in the direction where they expected to find the brigantine. According to Barthelemy's calculation, they would be within gunshot of her at dawn.
And lo, when the sun rose and they gazed around the horizon, the brigantine was nowhere in sight. They tacked right and left, but not a sail was visible anywhere on the horizon.
The brigantine had doubtless discovered them and vanished under cover of the darkness.