So, with a small boat filled with
some of his trusty men, he rowed quietly into the port to see what he
could discover. If he had had Esquemeling with him, and had sent that
mild-mannered observer into the harbor to investigate into the state of
affairs, and come back with a report, it would have been a great deal
better for the pirate captain, but he chose to go himself, and he came
to grief. No sooner did the people on the ships lying in the harbor
behold a boat approaching with a big-browed, broad-jawed mariner sitting
in the stern, and with a good many more broad-backed, hairy mariners
than were necessary, pulling at the oars, than they gave the alarm. The
well-known pirate was recognized, and it was not long before he was
captured. Roc must have had a great deal of confidence in his own
powers, or perhaps he relied somewhat upon the fear which his very
presence evoked. But he made a mistake this time; he had run into the
lion's jaw, and the lion had closed his teeth upon him.
When the pirate captain and his companions were brought before the
Governor, he made no pretence of putting them to trial. Buccaneers were
outlawed by the Spanish, and were considered as wild beasts to be killed
without mercy wherever caught. Consequently Roc and his men were thrown
into a dungeon and condemned to be executed.
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