* * * * *
When Bonnet had been left by Blackbeard--who, having said all he had to say, hurried up the companion-way to attend to the rest of his plans--the stately naval officer who had so recently occupied the bench by the table shrunk into a frightened farmer, gazing blankly at Ben Greenway.
"Think you, Ben," he said in half a voice, "that this is one of that man's jokes! I have heard that he has a fearful taste for horrid jokes."
The Scotchman shook his head. "Joke! Master Bonnet," he exclaimed, "it is no joke. He has ta'en your ship from ye; he has ta'en from ye your sword, your pistols, an' your wicked black flag, an' he has made evil impossible to ye. He has ta'en from ye the shame an' the wretched wickedness o' bein' a pirate. Think o' that, Master Bonnet, ye are no longer a pirate. That most devilish o' all demons has presarved the rest o' your life from the dishonour an' the infamy which ye were labourin' to heap upon it. Ye are a poor mon now, Master Bonnet; that Beelzebub will strip from ye everything ye had, all your riches shall be his. Ye can no longer afford to be a pirate; ye will be compelled to be an honest mon. An' I tell ye that my soul lifteth itsel' in thanksgivin' an' my heart is happier than it has been since that fearsome day when ye went on board your vessel at Bridgetown."
"Ben," said Bonnet, "it is hard and it is cruel, that in this, the time of my great trouble, you turn upon me. I have been robbed; I have been ruined; my life is of no more use to me, and you, Ben Greenway, revile me while that I am prostrate."
"Revile!" said the Scotchman. "I glory, I rejoice! Ye hae been converted, ye hae been changed, ye hae been snatched from the jaws o' hell. Moreover, Master Bonnet, my soul was rejoiced even before that master de'il came to set ye free from your toils. To look upon ye an' see that, although ye called yoursel' a pirate, ye were no like ane o' these black-hearted cut-throats. Ye were never as wicked, Master Bonnet, as ye said ye were!"
"You are mistaken," groaned Bonnet; "I tell you, Ben Greenway, you are mistaken; I am just as wicked as I ever was. And I was very wicked, as you should admit, knowing what I have done. Oh, Ben, Ben! Is it true that I shall never go on board my good ship again?"