"Well, you see, although you have taken most of our islands, there are
still two or three ports we can take prizes into. Beside, we can take
the best goods out, and if the ship isn't worth the risk of sending to
France burn her. Then, too, one can spare hands for prizes better
there; because one can always ship a few fresh hands--Spaniards,
Mulattos, or blacks--in their place."
"But you can't do that in the case of the Indiamen."
"No; but a single laden Indiaman is enough to pay us well for all our
trouble. We can put a crew of thirty hands on board her and send her
home. There is little risk of a recapture till we get near France. We
have only to hoist the English flag if we do happen to meet anything."
Ralph was glad to hear that the ship was bound for the West Indies, as
he thought opportunities for escape would be likely to present
themselves among the islands. Madeira was sighted three days later,
and after running south for another four or five hundred miles, the
brig bore away for the west. By dint of getting Jacques Clery to
translate sentences into French, and of hearing nothing but that
language spoken round him, Ralph had by this time begun to make
considerable progress in the language. Not only was he anxious to
learn it for the sake of passing away the time and making himself
understood, but his efforts were greatly stimulated by the fact that
if any of the crew addressed him in French a cuff on the head was
generally the penalty of a failure to comprehend him.
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