Sabatini created two succeeding volumes of Captain Blood stories: Captain Blood Returns (also called The Chronicles of Captain Blood) in 1931 and The Fortunes of Captain Blood in 1936.

On the one hand it can be argued that they represent a failure of creative power. But several of the stories were actually written at about the same time as Captain Blood. For instance, "Blood Money," collected in Captain Blood Returns (1931), was originally published in 1921. The reason Sabatini wrote more adventures for his pirate friend was that Sabatini loved Peter Blood, and he thoroughly enjoyed his company.

In one of the convoluted twists and turns of the plot of Captain Blood, Sabatini has the gentleman-pirate say, "I am considering it — the profit that a man may find in the ignorance of others."

In many respects that is the central point of the Captain Blood short stories. The plots...