The cruel aspersions which were cast upon his character by the women of
the country were very galling to the chivalrous soul of this gentleman
of France, and in every way possible he endeavored to show the Spanish
ladies that their opinions of him were entirely incorrect, and even if
his men were rather a hard lot of fellows, they were not cannibals.
The high-minded pirate had now two principal objects before him. One was
to lay his hand upon all the treasure he could find, and the other was
to show the people of the country, especially the ladies, that he was a
gentleman of agreeable manners and a pious turn of mind.
It is highly probable that for some time the hero of this story did not
succeed in his first object as well as he would have liked. A great deal
of treasure was secured, but some of it consisted of property which
could not be easily turned into cash or carried away, and he had with
him a body of rapacious and conscienceless scoundrels who were
continually clamoring for as large a share of the available
spoils--such as jewels, money, and small articles of value--as they
could induce their commander to allow them, and, in consequence of this
greediness of his own men, his share of the plunder was not always as
large as it ought to be.
But in his other object he was very much more successful, and, in proof
of this, we have only to relate an interesting and remarkable adventure
which befell him.
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