"You must trust in the mercy of One who is all merciful," I answered, "and repent of your crimes, and then be assured, as was the thief on the cross, you will be forgiven." "I wish I thought it might be so, sir," he observed, "but I have been too wicked--too great a reprobate for pardon; and _he_--_he_ knows better!--that ghastly figure there!--_he_ shakes his head, and grins at me, mocking at the very idea of it! Oh, that I could have another spell of life to get free of him! Is there any chance of being let off?" he asked, with sudden animation. "Not the slightest," I answered. "Do not for a moment indulge in such a hope." "Well, sir, well--perhaps it is best as it is. I have thought a good deal about death since I lay wounded, and have made up my mind to the worst. My life has long been a burden to me; but it is the future--the future which makes me tremble; and then that dreadful ghost-like figure unnerves me. Off with you--off!" he shrieked out. "Leave me for this once at rest!" The Spaniards, aroused by his cries, scowled fiercely on him, and cursing him for a noisy madman, again sank back upon the stone floor. After being silent for a minute, he appeared to have perfectly recovered his senses, and continued-- "I will go on, sir, with what I was telling you about--I want to get it off my mind. Well, after we had killed the people in the revenue boat, we hove the things into the cutter, and pulled again to the shore to assist our friends. It was fortunate for them that we did so, for the soldiers had come down in great numbers, and completely got the better of them. Some were made prisoners, numbers were either killed outright or desperately wounded, and the remainder were fighting hand-to-hand for their lives, close down to the water's edge. Some of the best men were with us. We were fresh and desperate; so, managing to drive back the soldiers for a minute, by a furious charge, before they again came on, we covered the retreat of the rest to the boats, and then followed ourselves. In a moment they were afloat, and we were pulling off from the shore. Several volleys were fired at us without doing us any mischief, and we could see the soldiers, by the flashes of their pistols, galloping up and down along the beach, in search of those of our friends who were trying to escape. About twenty of our people got off, but of course all the things, except a few we had on board, were lost, and we vowed vengeance against whomever had betrayed us. We all took a dreadful oath to that effect, which we most fearfully fulfilled. Oh! I wish that it had been broken.