and congregated
together. Two or three of their officers came among them.

Just before dusk Captain Gregory made his appearance, and was seen
talking in low whispers to several of the men.

Among those who observed him was Bill Rayner. Bill's wits were always
sharp, and they had been still more sharpened since he came to sea by
the new life he was leading. He had his eyes always about him to take
in what he saw, and his ears open whenever there was anything worth
hearing. It had struck him as a strange thing that so many prisoners
should submit quietly to be kept in subjection by a mere handful of
Englishmen. On seeing the American skipper talking to his men, he crept
in unobserved among them. His ears being wide open, he overheard
several words which dropped from their lips.

"Oh, oh!" he thought. "Is that the trick you're after? You intend to
take our ship, do you? You'll not succeed if I have the power to
prevent you."

But how young Bill was to do that was the question. He had never even
spoken to the boatswain or the boatswain's mate. It seemed scarcely
possible for him to venture to tell the first lieutenant or the captain;
still, if the prisoners' plot was to be defeated, he must inform them of
what he had heard, and that without delay.

His first difficulty was how to get away from among the prisoners.
Should they suspect him they would probably knock him on the head or
strangle him, and trust to the chance of shoving him through one of the
ports unobserved. This was possible in the crowded state of the ship,
desperate as the act might seem.

Bill therefore had to wait till he could make his way on deck without
being remarked. Pretending to drop asleep, he lay perfectly quiet for
some time; then sitting up and rubbing his eyes, he staggered away
forward, as if still drowsy, to make it be supposed that he was about to
turn into his hammock. Finding that he was unobserved, he crept up by
the fore-hatchway, where he found Dick, who was in the watch off deck.

At first he thought of consulting Dick, in whom he knew he could trust;
but second thoughts, which are generally the best, made him resolve not
to say anything to him, but to go at once to either the first lieutenant
or the captain.

"If I go to Mr Saltwell, perhaps he will think I was dreaming, and tell
me to `turn into my hammock and finish my dreams,'" he thought to
himself. "No! I'll go to the captain at once; perhaps the sentry wi