he thick panel
which moved from right to left in an iron groove. The scuttle was built
on an iron frame, securely bolted to the deck, and I knew it could resist
any attempt we might make to break it off by working in the narrow
companion, which was not wide enough for two men.

It was weary work, for the smoke below sought an outlet up the passage
and made my eyes ache; the wind that whirled through the cracks of the
hood brought spray with it and the water dripped constantly, and the
thunder of an occasional sea as it swept the forecastle-head made such a
dreadful noise that I was sure each visitation meant that we were
overwhelmed.

Captain Riggs crawled up to where I was, and asked me if I had solved the
problem of getting out.

"I don't guess you'll make much of a job of it," he whispered. "It's an
even bet they've got a ton of chain lashed over the hood; and, if ye dug
through the wood, ye'd need a file after that. Come on down and have a
bite. I found a sack of old sea-biscuit and a bottle of water stowed in
one of the spare bunks."

I went below with him, and we made a sorry meal of mouldy biscuit that
had been in the forecastle a year or more; and shared the water, which
was satisfying--even though warm, greasy, and unpalatable. Rajah had gone
to sleep in an upper bunk, and we ate in silence for a few minutes.

I was on the verge of despair as I saw that Riggs had given up, in spite
of my efforts to hearten him. After the stories he had been telling that
very evening about mutinies and wrecks and fights against odds, it seemed
unbelievable that he should submit so tamely to Thirkle and his men. As
he sat opposite me on the sea-chest and ate mechanically of the broken
bits of biscuits, I observed him closely, and it seemed that he had aged
twenty years in the last few hours.

His hair seemed whiter, his face grayer, the lines in his cheeks and
forehead deeper, and his chin and jaw had lost their firm set which
proved him a commander of men. As I considered all these things and saw
the pity of it I forgot his age and was angered. I was bound to make him
do something--put my youth and strength and hopefulness and fighting
spirit with his experience and knowledge of ships and find a way out.

I determined to make him do something, anything, rather than mope and
whine, even if I had to threaten him with his own pistol, which I had
taken from him without so much as asking him for it. He didn't want it,
anyway.