as he went into the pilot-house.

"Has he come to his senses?" asked the captain.

"He has; and he wants to talk."

"I should like to hear him talk; for there are some things about this
affair which I do not yet understand."

"The cook says he must not talk yet, and he is taking charge of the
case."

"Where is Louis?"

"He was looking on, and doing what he could for the wounded man. Do you
know, Captain Scott, I believe it was the ball from his rifle that
struck Mazagan!" said Felix, with an impressive expression on his face.

"Nonsense, Flix!" exclaimed Scott. "How under the canopy can you tell
who fired the shot, when five of you were firing at the same time?"

"Within my knowledge Louis has defended himself with a revolver in his
hand three times, and in every one of them he hit his man in the right
shoulder," replied Felix. "He never fires to kill; he is a dead shot,
and he can put the ball just where he pleases every time. If Mazagan had
been shot dead, I should know that Louis did not do it."

"I remember that the fellow in the Muski was hit in the right shoulder,"
added the captain.

"That disables a man without making a very dangerous wound. But,
Captain, darling, don't whisper a word to Louis that he did it, for it
might make him feel bad."

"I won't say a word; but ask him to come to the pilot-house, for I want
to see him, Flix," said Scott, as he had had no opportunity since the
catastrophe to speak to the one he regarded as the most important
personage on board of the Maud.

In fact, but a very few minutes had elapsed since the event occurred.
Those on the wreck had made haste to escape before they should be
carried down with it, and they were still pulling at no great distance
from the Maud for the shore. Louis appeared at the door of the
pilot-house very promptly; for he imagined that his presence before the
wounded man was not agreeable to him, and that it emphasized in his mind
the disastrous failure of his expedition to this island.

"What next, Louis?" asked the captain with a smile on his face; for he
believed he had stolen his friend's first question "after the battle."

"That is for you to decide, Captain Scott, and I intend to avoid any
interference with the duties of the commander," replied Louis.

"But when the commander asks for advice it may be given without
offence," suggested Scott. "We have just got out of the tightest place
in which we have ever been placed, and our exper