The bos’n’s mate told his tale, how that the expedition came across a flat piece of ground surrounded by steep rocks, like a basin.  Here, the Portuguese said, was the spot where the treasure was buried.  The men laid aside their arms, took their spades, and began to dig. Three feet down in the hard soil they went, but there was no sign of the treasure. Suddenly they heard a mocking laugh, and, looking up, saw that Pedro had slipped away and was jeering at them from the top of the rocks, and, what was more, he spoke like an Englishman, without any of his former accent.  Captain Poynings, maddened by the man’s treachery, fired a pistol at him, but without effect.  The seamen looked around for their arms to give pursuit, but these had been stealthily removed, and instead they found themselves surrounded by at least a hundred armed scoundrels, who demanded that they should yield themselves. The bos’n’s mate, however, having separated himself from the rest, took to his heels and fled for the boat, hotly pursued by half a dozen of the villains.  He gained the longboat in safety, as I have said, and the fate of Captain Poynings and his men was still a mystery.