The carpenter flushed like a girl and raised his hand to grasp the President's, but snatched his own back again to give it three or four rubs up and down, back and front, upon the leg of his trousers, like a barber's finishing-touch to a razor, and then gave the much smaller Spanish hand such a grip as brought tears not of emotion but of pain into the President's eyes. "Now then, for the shore!" cried the Don. "But, Captain Reed, my friend, I am never satisfied. You will help me once again?" "You know," replied the skipper, "as far as I can." "Oh, you will not refuse this," said the President, laughingly. "It is only to transport as many of my people as the schooner will bear. I shall have to trust to fishing-boats and the two small trading vessels that are in the port to bear the rest, I must take a strong force, and make many prisoners, for not one of the gunboat's crew must escape." "Oh, you won't have much trouble with that," said the skipper. "Once you have the full upper hand--" "I have it now," said the Spaniard haughtily. "Then they will all come over to your side." "You will come with me ashore?" said the Don. "Yes; but when shall you want to sail? To-morrow--the next day?" "Within an hour," cried the Spaniard, "or as soon after as I can. I must strike, as you English say, while the iron is in the fire." "Well, that's quick enough for anything," whispered Fitz. The two lads stood watching the departing barge, with the skipper by the President's side, and then turned to go aft to the cabin. "This is rather a bother," said Fitz. "I should have liked to have gone ashore and seen the banquet, and gone up the country. I am getting rather sick of being a prisoner, and always set to work. But--hullo, Chips!" "Just one moment, sir; and you too, Mr Poole." "Yes; what is it?" "That's rather a large order, gentlemen, aren't it? That there Don will be wanting to make me his chief naval constructor, perhaps. But that wouldn't do. I say, though, Mr Burnett, sir, can you give a poor fellow a tip or two?" "What about?" said Fitz. "What about, sir? Oh, I say, come! I like that! How am I going to get off that there gunboat? She's a harmoured vessel, you know." "Oh, you'll do it, Chips. You could always do anything, even when you hadn't got any stuff. What about pulling up the hacienda floor?" "To make fortifications, sir? Yes, we did work that to rights. But iron's iron, and wood's wood. You can drive one into t'other, but you can't drive t'other into one." "No, Chips," said Fitz, laughing. "But there are more ways of killing a cat than hanging." "So there are, sir; toe be sure. Making up your mind to do a thing is half the battle. I should like to have the help of you two young gents, though, all the same. A word from a young officer as knows how to disable a Armstrong gun, and from another who thinks nothing of tying a screw-propeller up in a knot, is worth having."