In April of 1823 the twenty-oar barges _Gallinipper_, Lieutenant William H. Watson, and the _Mosquito_, Lieutenant William Inman, chased a pirate schooner and a barge into the bay where Allen had lost his life the year before, and there the pirates anchored with springs on their cables, and made a fight. There were over seventy of the pirates, and the Americans were short-handed, having only thirty-one, all told. But they raised the cry of “Remember Allen!” and made a dash that drove the pirates overboard helter-skelter. The blood of the Yankee sailors had grown hot at the cry, and without stopping to take the pirate vessels they rowed in among the swimming cutthroats, and plied right and left with pikes and cutlasses, so that few if any escaped either death or capture, and there were but five prisoners. These were given to the Spanish authorities, and executed. The schooner had been captured from the Spanish. The pirate leader was known as Diabolito--a word that means “little devil.” He was killed while swimming for the shore. On the whole, the work of Porter’s fleet was rapidly clearing the waters of the pirate plague. Nevertheless, when he compelled a Porto Rico Alcalde to show a proper respect for an American officer, the United States Government drove him from the navy. The trouble began near the end of 1824. The storehouse of the American consul at St. Thomas had been robbed, and Lieutenant Charles T. Platt of the _Beagle_ learned that the property was concealed at Foxardo, a port on the east side of Porto Rico. Going to Foxardo, Platt landed with Midshipman Robert Ritchie and made known the _Beagle’s_ errand. Unquestionably Platt made one mistake. He went ashore in the clothes of a common citizen instead of wearing his uniform. If there is anything that incenses an official of one of the little American states, it is to have an official of a big state omit any of the forms and ceremonies usual to official business. The Foxardo officials pretended to doubt that Platt was an American officer, and demanded his commission. When this was exhibited they declared it a forgery, and that Platt was a pirate. Then they imprisoned both Platt and the midshipman, and treated both with great indignity before allowing them to return to the _Beagle_. When the matter was reported to Porter, he took the _John Adams_, the _Beagle_, and the _Grampus_ to Foxardo, and sent a letter dated November 12, 1824, to the Alcalde, demanding an explanation. While he awaited a reply he saw the soldiers on shore preparing a battery to fire on the Americans, and a force was sent to spike the guns of this and another battery, a service that was performed without opposition. Finding that the Americans were in earnest, the Foxardo authorities apologized and expressed proper regrets for the treatment of Platt and the midshipman. [Illustration: Sailor’s Mess-table. _From the “Kedge Anchor.”_]