rt, thereby
displaying a chest, back, and arms in which the muscles were developed
to an extent that might have made Hercules himself envious. Kicking off
his boots, he reduced his clothing to a pair of loose knee-breeches.

"'Tis a strange time to indulge in a cold bath!" murmured Thorwald,
whose state of surprise was beginning to render him desperately
ironical.

Gascoyne took no notice of the remark, but calling Corrie to his side,
said:

"Can you swim, boy?"

"Yes, like a duck."

"Can you distinguish the stem of the schooner?"

"I can."

"Listen, then. When you see a white sheet waved over the taffrail, throw
off your jacket and shirt and swim out to the schooner. D'ye
understand?"

"Perfectly," replied the boy, whose decision of manner and action grew
with the occasion.

"And now, Mr. Thorwald," said Gascoyne, "I shall swim off to the
schooner. If, as I expect, the men are on shore in a place that I wot
of, and with which you have nothing to do, well and good. I will send a
boat for you with muffled oars; but, mark you, let there be no noise in
embarking or in getting aboard the schooner. If, on the other hand, the
men are aboard, I will bring a boat to you myself, in which case silence
will not be so necessary, and your fighting powers shall be put to the
proof."

Without waiting for a reply, the pirate captain walked down the sloping
beach and waded slowly into the dark sea. His motions were so noiseless
and stealthy that those who watched him with eager eyes could only
discern a figure moving gradually away from them and melting into the
thick gloom.

Fierce though the storm was outside, the sheltered waters of the bay
were almost calm, so that Gascoyne had no difficulty in swimming off to
the Foam without making any noise. As he drew near, a footstep on the
deck apprised him that there was at least a watch left. A few seconds
later a man leaned over the low bulwarks of the vessel on the side on
which the swimmer approached.

"Hist! what sort o' brute's that!" he exclaimed, seizing a handspike
that chanced to be near him and hurling it at the head of the brute.

The handspike fell within a yard of Gascoyne, who, keeping up his
supposed character, made a wild splash with his arms and dived like a
genuine monster of the deep. Swimming under water as vigorously as he
could, he endeavored to gain the other side of the vessel before he came
up; but, finding that this was impossible, he turned on hi