Garrulous, possessed by some demon, he boasted to them of many prizes they would yet take, and he pointed to the black flag which still floated overhead, unharmed through all the battle.

He boasted of it as a good omen and succeeded in infusing into them some of his own spirit.
Robert was still unnoticed and at first he wandered about his strait territory.

Then he lent a helping hand with the wreckage.

His own life was at stake as well as theirs, and whether they wished it or not he could not continue to stand by an idler.

Circumstance and the sea forced him into comradeship with men of evil, and as long as it lasted he must make the best of it.