e idea of being placed in circumstances that constrained him to hold a
consultation, in matters that might involve life and death, with a mere
boy! But there was no help for it; besides, to say truth, the
extraordinary energy and courage that had been displayed by the lad,
combined with a considerable amount of innate sharpness in his
character, tended to create a feeling that the consultation might not be
altogether without advantage. At all events, it was better to talk over
their desperate position even with a boy than to confine his anxieties
to his own breast.

But although Montague had seen enough of his young companion to convince
him that he was an intelligent fellow, he was not prepared for the
fertility of resource, the extremity of daring, and the ingenuity of
device that were exhibited by him in the course of that consultation.

To creep over, in the dead of night, knife in hand, and attack the
pirates while asleep, was one of the least startling of his daring
propositions; and to swim out to the wreck, set her on fire, and get
quietly on board the Avenger, while all the amazed pirates should have
rushed over to see what could have caused such a blaze, cut the cable
and sail away, was among the least ingenious of his devices.

These two talked long and earnestly while the shades of evening were
descending on the Isle of Palms; and in the earnestness of their talk,
and the pressing urgency of their case, the man almost forgot that his
companion was a boy, and the boy never for a moment doubted that he
himself, in everything but years, was a man.

It was getting dark when they returned to the tent, where they found
that Alice and Poopy had arranged their supper with the most scrupulous
care and nicety. These, too, with the happy buoyancy of extreme youth,
had temporarily forgotten their position, and, when their male
companions entered, were deeply engaged in a private game of a
"tea-party," in which hard biscuit figured as bun, and water was made to
do duty for tea. In this latter part of the game, by the way, the
children did but carry out in jest a practise which is not altogether
unknown in happier circumstances and in civilized society.

CHAPTER XXIII.

PLANS PARTIALLY CARRIED OUT--THE CUTTER'S FATE--AND A SERIOUS
MISFORTUNE.

The cutter was a fast sailer, and, although the pirate schooner had left
Sandy Cove nearly two days before her, the Wasp, having had a fair wind,
followed close on h