e escaped. Here's the
yacht coming back to pick us up, and they've got one of the cutters
ready to drop with the men in her. Don't you say nothing. You just
attend to your swimming lesson: I'll do all the talking. I learnt to
swim when I was a little bit of a nipper and went with the boys at
school. They used to pitch me in, so that I was obliged to swim, I can
tell you. That was only fresh water. It's ever so much easier to swim
in the sea--when it's smooth. Mind you, I don't know nothing about it
when it's rough."

"Is the yacht near, Ned?" said Jack huskily. "What's that to you?"
cried the man fiercely. "You mind your lesson. Ought to know better
than that. I want to see you swim well, and you were doing beautiful
before you began to talk. No, you ain't getting tired. If you was, as
I told you, I'd make you float. Ur-r-r!"

Ned uttered a sound like a savage dog, for a panting and splashing had
made him turn his head to see, not six yards behind him, a
fierce-looking black face, with grinning teeth and flashing eyes,
looking the more savage from the fact that, to leave his arms both at
liberty, the black was holding his war-club in his grinning teeth.

The partly submerged canoe, burdened with its clinging crew, was a
hundred yards away, the two which had been launched to her assistance
quite three, and the yacht still two, but cutting the water fast.

Ned set his teeth; and for a brief instant thought of getting out his
knife, but he knew it would be madness to attempt it, and he prepared
with desperate energy for the worst.

"Don't you take any notice of me," he growled fiercely to his young
master. "You keep on swimming. Do you hear?"

In utter ignorance of the peril behind, and influenced in his weakness
and helplessness as a swimmer by one whom he instinctively felt to be at
home in the water, and his master, Jack obeyed, keeping to the slow
stroke with his arms, while his action with his legs was that of the
well-known treading water.

All this was but brief.

After savagely shouting at Jack, Ned drew a deep breath and turned to
meet the black, whose eyes glowed with race hatred as he raised one hand
from the water, took the short melon-headed nulla-nulla club from his
teeth, rose a little higher, and struck at his fellow-swimmer with all
his might.

But it was for dear life. Ned threw himself sidewise, the head of the
club grazed his shoulder as it splashed the water. Then, quick a