from your fleet. Now, do you surrender, or are we to attack you?"

Taken by surprise, and unarmed, the Genoese who had gained the deck
sullenly replied that they surrendered. They were bound and led away,
and the others ordered to come up on deck. There were found to be
four-and-twenty in all, and these were soon laid side by side on the
grain in the hold, the hatch being left off to give them air. The masts
were then cut through, and were with some trouble lowered to the deck.

"There is nothing more to be done now," the captain said, "and I think
we can all safely turn in till morning."

He then ordered the under officer to place two men on watch on the
rocks, and two men on deck, two men to stand as sentinels over the
prisoners, and the rest to lie down. He directed that he should be
roused at the earliest streak of daylight.

The lads were soon fast asleep, and could hardly believe that the night
was over, when Giuseppi awakened them with the news that day was
breaking. They were soon on deck, and found that the crew were already
astir. The sentinels on the rock were at once ordered to lie down, so
that they could command a view of the sea, without exposing themselves
to sight. The boats were drawn up alongside, and everything put in
readiness for instant debarkation, and then the party waited for the
appearance of the Genoese galleys.

"They will be along in less than an hour," the captain said. "It is
light enough now for the watch to have discovered that the Lido is
missing, and it will not be many minutes before they are under way.
They will calculate that we can have but five or six hours' start at
the utmost, and that three hours' rowing will bring them up to us."

"I have no fear whatever of their discovering us as they go along,"
Francis said. "The only fear is that, after rowing for three or four
hours and seeing no sign of us, they will guess that we are hidden
somewhere under the cliffs, and will come back along the shore,
searching every bay."

"There is a chance of that," the captain agreed, "but I should think
only a chance. When the party who come this way find they do not
overtake us, they will suppose that we have sailed to the west, and
that on their return they will find us in the hands of their comrades;
and when these also come back empty handed they will conclude that we
have sailed straight out to sea. Of course they may have sent a galley
southward also, but will conclude that that h