pretended the same friendliness towards them as he had shown to us.  But so soon as a favourable opportunity offered, Thedori had looted the ship, and taken Pedro prisoner, declaring he would hold him to ransom, until his friends returned to Spain, from where they must send cotton, and other goods, not procurable at the Moluccas, in order to ensure his release.  It was by this means that Thedori obtained many useful commodities of European workmanship, the presence of which we had noticed, with surprise, among his people.  De Castro had contrived to escape his gaolers, and having swum aboard our vessel, he now besought us to save him from the miserable condition to which he had been reduced since his ship had sailed, leaving him dependent upon a vague promise of release from captivity, which he knew might never be fulfilled.

“And mark you,” he said, when we had assembled the officers in the cabin to hear his story, “Thedori will serve you as he served us, when the time is ripe for his treachery, for he possesses many guns, hidden away, together with a great store of ammunition, so that he could send an army against you that you would find it impossible to resist.”

We thanked Pedro for his warning, and since we determined to profit by it, we could do no less than offer him a berth among our officers.  But I had no love for Spaniards or their ways, and I lived to learn that my distrust of them was not misplaced.  That night we made preparations for departure, and, with the first breath of dawn, we hove our anchor aboard, and set a course for the open sea.

When it was seen that we were leaving the island the utmost excitement prevailed on shore.  The natives crowded upon the beach which bordered the harbour, while some put off in their canoes, making an effort to overtake us.  But the “Golden Seahorse” was a ship very finely built, which caused her to slip through the water, needing but little wind to drive her at a rapid pace, so that we soon outdistanced our pursuers, and an hour later the Molucca Islands had disappeared beyond the horizon.

CHAPTER XXIX

THE VOYAGE CONTINUED

We had been compelled, by reason of the treachery of Thedori, to leave the Moluccas without having obtained a supply of fresh water.  This made it necessary to keep a sharp look-out for some island from which to replenish our tanks.  On most of the islands in the Pacific water is readily obtainable.  It is only upon the Southern Continent that great stretches of waterless country prevail.