‘_Madre de Dios_—here’s a goodly crowing,’ cried the officer of the watch; ‘why, thou pernicious heretic and contemner of saints, thou buccaneering and piratical rogue, for such I see thee with half an eye, what business hast thou or any of thy pestilent countrymen to sail these seas, which belong to His Most Catholic Majesty, the seas of the Spanish Indies? I tell thee thou shalt be hanged, were it for nothing else but rousing me from a comfortable doze; therefore, bethink thee of thy sins, and that the more speedily, inasmuch as their catalogue is, doubtless, long, and thy time as surely short.’ Having made this speech, the gentleman staggered slightly, and then, recovering himself, looked round as if to say, ‘Who suspects that I have taken too much to drink? if there be any, let him stand forth and say so;’ then, shaking his head very gravely, he observed that the world was getting wickeder every day, and added that he was much concerned thereat. Here the sea lieutenant, as fearing a scandal, broke in, and suggested that I should be at once taken before the alcaide; but the sergeant, assuring him that that was out of the question, inasmuch as his honour was then supping with his reverence, the chief canon, and that, above all things, his honour disliked to be disturbed at meal times—the captain of the guard interposed, and, swearing that he respected the peculiarity of the alcaide, it being, indeed, one in which he confessed himself a sharer, ordered the sergeant to lock me carefully up until the morning, and to give me the dirtiest cell and the heaviest irons, in honour of the Catholic religion. Then, addressing me again, he said that I might make myself easy, for he saw the gallows in my face; and so, taking the arm of the naval lieutenant, he swaggered out. The sergeant then approached, holding the irons; these consisted simply of two rings for the wrists, connected by a chain about six inches long. There was no use in resisting; so the cold, greasy-feeling metal speedily enclasped my wrists, each ring locking with a smart snap. ‘How came it that your comrades deserted you, friend?’ quoth the sergeant, in rather an amicable tone. ‘I will tell you nothing about my comrades,’ I replied; ‘I do not want to be uncourteous, but you shall hear nothing from me on that score.’ ‘Hum!’ said the sergeant, ‘that is but a bad tone to take. We shall see about that to-morrow. However, the thing is your own business, not mine; so come along, and if you are used to lying hard, you can sleep upon it.’ I followed my jailer, who really was not an uncivil man, through several long passages, with great doors, studded like the doors of tolbooths, with iron nails. The lantern cast a dim fickle glare in these hot airless passages, and the cockroaches went whirring along, dashing their horny bodies and buzzing wings against the glass covering the light, and in our faces.