“It doesn’t matter what they say, it’s what you’ll do, Jack. Haven’t we got a couple of guns? And couldn’t you give the thing a pretty loud advertisement? And do you think they’ll relish to have you firing a royal salute within a league or so of the shore? And can’t we get some cartridges that aren’t blank in the city to-morrow? And would they enjoy their breakfast nicely if you sent a shot into the _Rampallo’s_ hull? Or couldn’t the old man run the _Stella_ alongside in the old grappling-iron style?” “Piracy now, eh?” “Yes, piracy, if it comes to it. But it won’t. What I’m after is this. Sign on an extra crew to-morrow and get ’em on the _Stella_ quietly. When you see my signal, sheer close up, fire a blank cartridge and order them to stop. Get our men aboard somehow or anyhow; and then we’ll send the _Rampallo_ off to sea with the whole of them in her as prisoners and keep them away a week. By that time I shall have had time to straighten things out in the city. And now I’ll tell you exactly what we’ve got to do to-morrow;” and I went very carefully over the whole ground, filling in the gaps and elaborating the details and mapping out the whole of the day’s work before us. As soon as the dawn broke, Burroughs and I steamed over to the Eastern landing-stage and made a careful survey of the scene of operations. There were half a dozen places where we could lie hidden in the larger shed, and as I had hoped, it had an opening at the back, and the doors were so close together that it would be difficult for any one at the spot where the carriage was to remain to be certain which one a person leaving either would use. I explained everything as I had planned it; and as we ran back to the _Stella_ to snatch three or four hours’ sleep, I arranged that Burroughs should take Bryant down to the place during the day and explain things to him. As soon as we were up, the skipper was called to a consultation and his work assigned to him. He was to engage the spare crew, buy some ball cartridges and half a dozen pair of handcuffs, and lay in a store of provisions to put on the _Rampallo_ sufficient for a week’s cruise, if the scheme went right. With Burroughs I went to my rooms and we explained Bryant’s part to him and sent him off to get the necessary disguises--shooting rigs such as were in common enough use, and three light dustcoats for us to wear over the disguises in driving to the landing-stage. For me he was also to get some padding to fill out my spare figure to something like the proportions of His Majesty, and a quantity of small shot, intended to increase my weight, lest my abductors should detect the deception when they found I was two or three stone lighter than their august and portly monarch ought to be. The arrangements of these matters occupied nearly all the morning.