Page:Madrid shaver's adventures in the Spanish Inquisition (4).pdf/17

17 Manuel, his superior will be of another way of thinking; tell him this casket contains my jewels; they are valuable; let him present them as a lawful prize, which will enrich the captor; his superior will not hesitate to take them from me.—If they are your Excellency’s private property, replied Pedrosa, I am ordered to assure you, that if your ship were loaded with jewels, no British officer in the service of his king will take them at your hands: the ship and effects of his Catholic Majesty are the only prize of the captors; the personals of the passengers are inviolate —Generous nation! exclaimed Don Manuel, how greatly have I wronged thee!—The boats of the British frigate now came alongside, and part of the crew were shifted out of the prize, taking their clothes and trunks along with them, in which they were very cordially assisted by their conquerors. The barge soon after came aboard with an officer in the stern-sheets, and the crew in their white shirts and velvet caps, to escort the governor and the ship’s captain on board the frigate, which lay with her sails to the mast, awaiting their arrival: the accommodation-ladder was slung over the side, and manned for the prisoners, who were received on the gang-way by the second lieutenant, whilst perfect silence and the strictest discipline reigned in the ship, where all were under the decks, and no inquisitive curious eyes were suffered to wound the feelings of the conquered even with a glance. In the door of his cabin stood the captain, who received them with that modest complaisance, which does not revolt the unfortunate by an overstrained politeness