ss the flask to my son, and give me a pistol, and
steady, me with your arm--so. Ah, that is better--much better...."

He fired, and the sound of his pistol in the closed room made my ears
ring, and then the ship lurched, so that I had nearly lost my balance. We
were rolling heavily, in the trough of the sea, and outside the canvas
was snapping like a dozen small arms, and then I knew what had happened.
My father had shot the man at the helm--shot him where he stood, so that
the wheel had broken from his grasp, so that the ship was out of
control, and the wind was blowing it on shore. Had he thought of the plan
while he was watching Mr. Sims in the light of the lantern? I half
suspected that he had not, but I never knew.

"Open the door, Brutus," said my father, and suddenly his voice was
raised to a shout that rose above the wind and the sails.

"Keep clear of that wheel! If a single man touches it--do you hear
me?--Stand clear!" And he fired again, and the _Sea Tern_ still lurched
in the trough of the sea.

I ran to the door beside him. Ten paces away the light of the binnacle
was burning, and by it I saw two men lying huddled on the deck, and the
ship's wheel whirling backwards and forwards as the waves hit the rudder.

"Get the wheel!" someone was shouting frantically. "Get the wheel! She's
being blown on the bar. Get the wheel!"

"Stand clear, you dogs," called my father. "We're all going on the bar
together."

"Brutus," he added, "go forward and open the forecastle, and tell my
men to clear the decks. If any of these fools notice you, kill them,
but they won't, Brutus, they won't. Their minds are too much set on a
watery grave."

The ship heeled far over on her side as another gust of wind took her.
Six men were clinging to the rail to keep their balance, staring at my
father with white faces, while sea after sea swept over the bulwarks.
Three of them were edging toward us, when a wave caught them and sent
them sprawling almost to his feet.

"Your sword, Henry," called my father. I ducked under his arm, and
stepped out on the swaying deck, but they did not wait.

"Ah," said my father, "here they come. Brutus was quicker than I could
have hoped."

"Aiken!" he shouted, "are you there? Put up that helm, or we'll be
drowned. Put up that helm and get your men on the braces. D'you hear me?
Get some way on the ship."

A hoarse voice bellowed out an order, and another answered.

"Good," said my father. "It