“Me go, sar,” Dominique, who was standing by, said suddenly.  “Me take two black fellows in dinghy.  Dey no fire at us.  Me go dere, tell captain dat you no want to have to kill him and all his crew, but dat you got to search dat craft.  If he let search be made, den no harm come of it.  If he say no, den we take yacht alongside and kill every man jack.  Say dat white sailors all furious, because dey fire at us yesterday, and want bad to have fight.”

“Very well, Dominique.  It can do no harm anyhow, and as I feel sure that the lady has been taken ashore, I don’t see why they should refuse.”

Accordingly, Dominique called to two of the negro boatmen to get into the dinghy, and took his seat in the stern.  When the boat was halfway between the two vessels there was a hail in French: 

“What do you want?  If you come nearer we will fire.”

“What want to fire for?” Dominique shouted back.  “Me pilot, me no capture ship, single handed.  Me want to speak to captain.”

It was evident the answer was understood, for no reply came for a minute or two.

“Well, come along then.”

The words could be heard perfectly on board the yacht.

“The skipper talks English, George.  I thought that he would do so.  Carthew was sure to have shipped someone who could understand him.  I don’t suppose his French is any better than mine.”

The dinghy was rowed to within ten yards of the brigantine.

“Now, what message have you brought me from that pirate?”

“Him no pirate at all.  You know dat bery well, massa captain.  Dat English yacht; anyone see dat with half an eye.  De gentleman there says you have a lady on board dat has been carried off.”

“Then he is a liar!” the Belgian said.  “There is no woman on board at all!”

“Well, sar, dat am a matter ob opinion.  English gentleman tink dat you hab.  You say no.  Dat prove bery easy.  De gentleman say he wants to search ship.  If as you say, she is no here, den ob course no reason for you to say no to dat.  If on de other hand you say no, den he quite sure he right, and he come and search whether you like it or no.  Den der big fight.  Bery strong crew on board dat yacht.  Plenty guns, men all bery savage, cause you kill one of der fellows last night.  Dey want to fight bad, and if dey come dey kill many.  What de use of dat, sar?  Why say won’t let search if lady not here?  Nothing to fight about.  But if you not let us see she not here, den we board de ship, and when we take her we burn her.”

The Belgian stood for two or three minutes without answering.  They had seen that there were two or three and twenty men on board the Osprey, and they were by no means sure that this was the entire number.  There were three blacks, and there might be a number of them lying down behind the bulwarks or kept below.  The issue of a fight seemed to him doubtful.  He was by no means sure that his men would fight hard in a cause in which they had no personal interest; and as for the blacks, they would not count for much in a hand-to-hand fight with English sailors.