and lower away, for I’ve been payin’ of it out till my mouth’s dry.” Bottle-Jack, who did not give his mouth a chance of becoming dry, took a long pull at the beer before he answered; but as his style was somewhat involved, and obscured besides by the free use of professional metaphors, applied in a sense none but himself could thoroughly appreciate, I will not venture to detail in his own words the copious and illustrative exposition on which he embarked. It was obvious, however, that Bottle-Jack’s inclinations were adverse to the regular service, and although he would have scouted such a notion, and probably made himself extremely disagreeable to the man who broached it, there was no question the old sailor had been a pirate, and deserved hanging as richly as any ghastly skeleton now bleaching in its chains and waving to the gusts of a sou’-wester on the exposed sky-line of the Downs. By his own account he had sailed with the notorious Captain Kidd, in the ‘Adventure’ galley, originally fitted out by merchants and traders of London as a scourge for those sea-robbers who infested the Indian Ocean, and whose enormities made honest men shudder at their bare recital. The ‘Adventure,’ manned by some of the most audacious spirits to be procured from the banks of the Thames and the Hudson, seemed, like her stout commander, especially qualified for such a purpose. She carried heavy guns, was well found in every respect, and possessed the reputation of a fast sailer and capital sea boat. Kidd himself was an experienced officer, and had served with distinction. He was intimately acquainted with the eastern seas, and seemed in all respects adapted for an expedition in which coolness, daring, and unswerving honesty of purpose were indispensable qualifications. Accordingly, Captain Kidd sailed for the Indian coast, and Bottle-Jack, by his own account, was boatswain’s mate on board the ‘Adventure.’