"Stop him! fader; don't let him go away," cried she in Dutch; "it is he! it is he!" "Who, my child?" asked the old gentleman. "The pirate-boy," replied the little girl, bursting into a paroxysm of tears, on my shoulders. "Mein Gott! it cannot be; he was _black_, my child; yet," continued the old gentleman, looking at me, "he is like him. Tell me, sir, are you our preserver?" "Yes," replied I, "I was; but that is of little consequence now. Will you oblige me by removing this young lady?" continued I, for I was highly offended. "Sir, I ask your pardon," replied the old gentleman; "but I am not to blame. How could I recognise you in a white person when you were so dark-coloured at our meeting on board of that vessel? I am not to blame; indeed I am not, my dear young friend. I would have given ten thousand rix dollars to have met you, that I might prove my gratitude for your noble defence of us, and our preservation at such a risk. Come, sir, you must forgive the mistake of an old man, who was certainly not inclined to be civil to an officer who belonged to the squadron, who had within these few days so humiliated us by their astonishing bravery and success. Let my little girl, whose life you saved, persuade you, if I cannot." In the mean time the little girl had dropped from my shoulder, and was on the floor, embracing my knees, and still sobbing. I felt convinced that what the old gentleman said was true, and that he had not recognised me. I had forgotten that I had been stained dark at the time that I had met them on board of the Stella. I therefore held out my hand to the old gentleman, and raising the little girl, we all three went in together to where we had found the old gentleman on my first introduction to him. "If you knew how delighted I am to see you, and be able to express my thanks," said Mynheer Vanderwelt, "and poor Minnie too. How often have we talked over that dreadful day, and wondered if ever we should see you again. I assure you, on my honour, that now I no longer regret the capture of the island." Minnie stood by me during the time her father was speaking, her large blue eyes beaming through the tears with which they brimmed; and as I turned to her, our eyes met, and she smiled. I drew her towards me. She appeared as if she only required some encouragement, for she immediately kissed me several times on the cheek nearest to her, every now and then saying a word or two in Dutch to her father, which I could not understand. I hardly need say, that after this, intimacy was soon brought about. If I thought that at first I had been treated with ingratitude, ample amends was made afterwards.