"Ha, ha!" laughed the great official. "The Yankee pirates'll never show themselves on this coast. Go now; we can pick 'em up as fast as they come."
Captain Luke Watts had kept his word to the British authorities. He had piloted the Termagant safely into her harbor. He was, therefore, above and beyond any possible suspicions as to his loyalty. There was nothing to prevent him from delivering, not only his packages of valuable furs, but also any other parcels which he had brought with him from America.
"All right!" he said to himself, as he swung out of the port admiral's office. "They'll know better one o' these days. I'm glad to be told, though, that they mean to remain off their guard till they're waked up. I wish they'd send a few more o' their best ships somewhere else. Captain Lyme Avery and a lot more like him are coming this way pretty soon."
He was only halfway correct in that assertion, for Captain Avery and the Noank were not just then in shape to sail for England. After their noteworthy adventures with pirates and slavers, there had been many hours of plain sailing, in company with the rescued Santa Teresa. The second morning was well advanced when the two vessels found themselves only a mile or so outside of the ample harbor of Porto Rico. They had also tacked within speaking distance of each other.
"Señor Avery," sang out Captain Velasquez, "I have the honor to make a friendly suggestion."
"I'm ready, thank you, señor," said Captain Avery. "What is it?"
"Let the Santa Teresa go ahead and look in. I'll send a boat back with a Carib pilot. There might be a British cruiser in port."
"That's the very thing I was thinkin' of," said the captain of the Noank. "A thousand thanks, señor. We'll heave to."
Very little more needed to be said. There were other sails in sight, of various sorts and sizes, but not one of them carried the red-cross flag of England.
As for the Noank, all her ports were closed, there was a tarpaulin over her pivot-gun, and she was a peaceable appearing merchant schooner. Even the bunting at her masthead was a fraud, for it declared of her that she came from France, and was not to be molested without proper authority.