noon
Now go and turn in , and beware how you appear before me drunk again . '' Early next morning I presented myself at the admiral 's office , timing myself so as to catch the old gentleman immediately upon his arrival from Kingston , when , having reported the _ Tern _ as ready for sea , I received my orders to sail forthwith , and also written instructions in reference to the especial object of my cruise . These , I was by no means surprised to find , indicated that , while doing my utmost to harass the enemy , I was to devote myself especially to the task of hunting down and cutting short the career of Morillo the pirate and his gang of cut - throats . We weighed shortly before noon , beating out against a sea breeze that roared through our rigging with the strength of half a gale ; and when we were fairly clear of the shoals I gave orders for Black Peter 's prisoner of the previous night to be brought on deck . A minute or two later the fellow -- a half-caste Spanish negro -- stood before me ; and when I beheld what manner of man he was , I could readily believe him to be on terms of friendly intimacy not only with Morillo but with all the human scum of the Caribbean . The rascal presented a not altogether unpicturesque figure , as he stood in the brilliant sunlight , poising himself with the careless , easy grace of the practised seaman upon the heaving , lurching deck of the plunging schooner ; for he was attired in a white shirt , with broad falling collar loosely confined at the neck by a black silk handkerchief , blue dungaree trousers rolled up to the knee and secured round the waist by a knotted crimson silk sash , and his head was enfolded in a similar sash , the fringed ends of which drooped upon his left shoulder . But it was the fellow 's countenance that riveted my attention despite myself ; it was of itself ugly enough to have commanded attention anywhere , but to its natural ugliness there was added the further repulsiveness of expression that bespoke a character notable alike for low , unscrupulous cunning and the most ferocious cruelty .