He looked up in dismay, blooddripping from a cut on his cheek onto his silken shirt, its widefashionable sleeves slashed with green. Hal felt the deck sway under his feet as though the Golden Bough hadbeen struck by a tall wave. Later that morning, as he waited on the bench with the other slavesoutside the kitchens for his breakfast But when he looked up atthe steep, boulder-strewn climb, his spirits quailed.
His voice was high and unbroken, but Hal was delighted to find that heunderstood every word the boy had said. It's good to see youagain, Captain. Hal was thelast to leave. This loss had signalled the beginning of the decline of Portugueseinfluence on the coast, and the Omanis had usurped their place as theforemost trading nation.
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