“It is very good, as far as it goes,” Francis replied, “but it might have been a great deal better.  If it hadn’t been for the storm, we might have picked them all up one by one.  Each vessel we took, the stronger we became, and I had calculated upon our capturing the greater number.  But in such a sea, I don’t think we could possibly capture more than we did.”

“I should think not,” Matteo said.  “I had never dreamt of doing more than recovering the Pluto, and when you first talked about that, it seemed almost like madness.  I don’t think one of us had the slightest belief in the possibility of the thing, when you first proposed it.”

“I thought it was to be managed somehow,” Francis said.  “It would have been a shame, indeed, if a hundred and fifty men were to be kept prisoners for a fortnight, or three weeks, by a third of their number.”

“Well, certainly no one would have thought of making the attempt, if you had not proposed it, Francis.  I believe, even if you were to propose our sailing north, and capturing Genoa, there is not a man on board but would follow you willingly, with the firm conviction that you would succeed.”

“In that case, Matteo,” Francis said, laughing, “it is very lucky for you that I am not at all out of my mind.  Signal now to Parucchi to lower his boats, and come on board with our men.  We may fall in yet with another Genoese squadron, and may as well have our full complement on board, especially as Parucchi has found two hundred men already on board the vessel we captured.”

Parucchi and his men soon transferred themselves to the Pluto, and the four vessels hoisted their sails, and made for the south.  They had learned, from their captives, that the squadron had already passed through the Straits of Messina, and that it was at Messina they had stopped and taken in provision two days before.  Indeed, when, late in the afternoon, the sky cleared and the sun shone out, they saw the mountains of Calabria on their left.

Learning, from the captives, that no Genoese vessels had been seen in the straits as they passed through, Francis did not hesitate to order the course to be shaped for the straits, instead of sailing round Sicily, as he would have done had there been any chance of falling in with a hostile squadron, in passing between the islands and the mainland.

“I should like to have seen the face of the commander of the Genoese squadron this morning,” Matteo said, “when he discovered that four of his vessels were missing.  He can hardly have supposed that they were lost, for although the wind was strong, it blew nearly dead aft, and there was nothing of a gale to endanger well-handled ships.  I almost wonder that he did not send back the two fully manned galleys he had with him, to search for us.”

“Perhaps he did,” Francis said; “but he would have been a hundred miles further north by daybreak, and it would have taken him a couple of days to get back to where we were lying.”