Only Lily
spoke up for me, saying 'Thomas has sworn an oath and he does well to
keep it, for his honour is at stake. Now I go to wait until he comes to
me in this world or the next.'
But all this is out of place, for many a year passed away before I heard
of these doings.
CHAPTER XI
THE LOSS OF THE CARAK
On the day after I had given my fortune and letters into the charge of
Captain Bell, I watched the 'Adventuress' drop slowly round the mole
of Cadiz, and so sad was I at heart, that I am not ashamed to confess
I wept. I would gladly have lost the wealth she carried if she had but
carried me. But my purpose was indomitable, and it must be some other
ship that would bear me home to the shores of England.
As it chanced, a large Spanish carak named 'Las Cinque Llagas,' or 'The
Five Wounds,' was about to sail for Hispaniola, and having obtained a
licence to trade, I took passage in her under my assumed name of d'Aila,
passing myself off as a merchant. To further this deception I purchased
goods the value of one hundred and five pesos, and of such nature as I
was informed were most readily saleable in the Indies, which merchandise
I shipped with me. The vessel was full of Spanish adventurers, mostly
ruffians of varied career and strange history, but none the less
good companions enough when not in drink.
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