Presently Cervillo opened the door and looked out. The upper deck was almost deserted. Few of the crew could stand the numbing effects of the Arctic weather. Pacing up and down on the lee side of the quarter-deck was a muffled figure that Cervillo recognised as his minion Da Silva. The pirate captain beckoned, and his lieutenant hastened towards him. Both men entered the cabin that Cervillo had been obliged to occupy, and the door was shut and bolted.
"I've been striving to find a means of recapturing those insolent dogs," began Cervillo, jerking his thumb in the direction of the after end of the ship. "Caramba! It must be done! But how? Can you suggest anything, Da Silva? You were ever a man of resource.
"We managed it before with chloroform," began the lieutenant.
"That will not do. They are too astute to be caught twice that way. No, Da Silva. They warned me that if I used my usual methods they would scuttle the ship—and, think, the gold goes with it!"
"Will they dare do it—don't they value their lives?"
"I cannot take the risks. I would not give that much for the whole lot of them"—and Cervillo snapped his fingers contemptuously—"but they have the wealth that is ours by right of conquest. They are desperate men. If they should sink the ship what chance have we in our shattered boats in this fearful sea of fog and ice?"
"I would suggest that we bring forty or fifty men aft, and hold them ready to open fire; warn our men first, so that no more panic may take place—they were quite out of hand yesterday—then raise an alarm that the ship is sinking, and every man is to save himself. Those Englishmen and their companions will bolt from below like startled rabbits, and we can mow them down as soon as they are all clear of the hatchway."
"But if we fail?" asked Cervillo, dubiously. "If only one man survives and runs below again he would open the valves before we could stop him."
"Then why not drop a charge of dynamite through the ventilator? The damage would be great, but not enough to sink the ship, and you would have the whole crowd of them removed without any trouble at all. We settled thrice that number in the Plazza of Barcelona."
"No," replied the Spanish captain. "That also will not do. Could I be sure of wiping out this nest of hornets with one blow I would not hesitate. But without doubt they would not be all close together. Some would be down in the after-hold. I should be greatly surprised if that English officer has not given every man instructions as to what is to be done should anything happen to him. It's the gold that keeps our hands behind our backs; but for that——"