CHAPTER XVI.
The Stars and Stripes lay in the roads with the Union flag at her gaff.
She was a long, black, and, at the water-line, well-shaped vessel, with a crew of thirty-two men; and Salve was so taken with her appearance that as they came alongside he silently congratulated himself on his luck in getting a berth in her.

They were so obliging, moreover, as to give him a berth to himself in a separate cabin below.

But, to his intense indignation, no sooner had he entered it than the door was latched on the outside, and when he tried to kick it open, it was signified to him that during the short time they had still to be at Rio, he was to remain in confinement, that they might be sure of him.

The heat was intolerable down there; and to add to that, there was incessant crying and groaning going on in the hold beside him, as if it were full of sick people.

It was the vilest treatment he had ever been subjected to.
The work of taking in the cargo went on uninterruptedly the whole night, as if they were in a particular hurry to get out of the harbour, and about noon the anchor was weighed while the contents of the last lighter were being taken on board.
When Salve, some hours after, was set at liberty, they were already out in the open sea off the mouth of the channel.