CHAPTER IX.
MANUEL'S RELEASE.
Before the boys left the schooner next morning, the guard they had set over Manuel approached the captain, and by signs and gestures intimated that the prisoner wished to speak to him.
Manuel's sullen demeanor had entirely disappeared and he looked humble and penitent.
"I wish to make my most humble apologies to you, noble captain," he declared. "All night long I have thought over my hasty actions with shame and regret. You were right and I wrong. I will work hard at whatever you set me to do, and in the future you will have no cause to complain if you will set me at liberty."
There were tears in the fellow's eyes and his voice trembled as he spoke.
"Stop that blubbering," said the blunt old sailor, who detested tears in men. "I reckon, if you are sure that you've learned your lesson an' won't try to act smart again, I'll set you free; but the minute you try to start any trouble again, I'll put you down here for keeps."
As he removed the irons from the prisoner, the strange sailor burst into a torrent of passionate speech.
The captain paid no attention to him for he could not understand a word of it, but Charley, who was watching closely, saw Manuel give the fellow a quick glance of sly triumph.