CHAPTER XII.
The Story of L'Olonnois the Cruel In the preceding chapter we have seen that the buccaneers had at last become so numerous and so formidable that it was dangerous for a Spanish ship laden with treasure from the new world to attempt to get out of the Caribbean Sea into the Atlantic, and that thus failing to find enough richly laden vessels to satisfy their ardent cravings for plunder, the buccaneers were forced to make some change in their methods of criminal warfare; and from capturing Spanish galleons, they formed themselves into well-organized bodies and attacked towns.
Among the buccaneer leaders who distinguished themselves as land pirates was a thoroughbred scoundrel by the name of Francis L'Olonnois, who was born in France.

In those days it was the custom to enforce servitude upon people who were not able to take care of themselves.

Unfortunate debtors and paupers of all classes were sold to people who had need of their services.

The only difference sometimes between master and servant depended entirely upon the fact that one had money, and the other had none.

Boys and girls were sold for a term of years, somewhat as if they had been apprentices, and it so happened that the boy L'Olonnois was sold to a master who took him to the West Indies.