ion, and equally quick to act. He sprang to his
feet, and before either of the prostrate men could make a move he ran
around the end of the table and covered them with his revolver.

"If you stir or utter a word I will shoot you as quickly as I would
shoot a couple of dogs which disputed my right to use the highway," said
he, in tones that could not have been steadier if he had been ordering
the boatswain's mate of the _Sumter_ to pipe sweepers. "Captain, drop
that revolver on the floor without moving your hand a hair's-breadth."

"Let go your own revolver," said a voice in his ear: and to his infinite
amazement the Confederate suddenly found himself in a grasp so strong
that it not only rendered him incapable of action, but brought him to
his knees in a second. One vise-like hand was fastened upon the back of
his neck and the other upon his wrist, turning the muzzle of the
revolver upward, so that it pointed toward the roof of the cabin.

[Illustration: JACK GRAY RECAPTURES THE BRIG.]

This is what we referred to when we stated that if it had not been for
Jack Gray's courage and prompt action, it is probable that the brig
would never have been recaptured. When the midshipman jumped from his
chair and ran around the table, he turned his back toward the
companion-way; and the moment he did so, Jack Gray, who saw that the
critical time had come and that the next few seconds would decide who
were to be masters of the brig, made a spring for the ladder. As he was
in his stocking feet his movements were noiseless, and so rapid, too,
that he had the Confederate prize-master in his grasp before the latter
was fairly done speaking. Then he was powerless, for the second mate had
a grip that few who knew him cared to contend against.

"Didn't you have the revolver you took from the captured sailor in your
pocket?" inquired Marcy, when Jack reached this point in his story.

"I did, but I didn't think it best to depend upon it, for this reason:
Although the midshipman wasn't much to look at, he had showed himself to
be possessed of any amount of pluck, and I was afraid that even if I
succeeded in getting the drop on him he might shoot any way, for the
double purpose of disabling me and calling his men to his assistance. So
I made all haste to get a hold on him."

"Now that I think of it," continued Marcy, who was deeply interested in
the narrative, "why did Captain Semmes keep the _Herndon_ in tow when he
cast off