amongst shoals, so no orders were given, the men gathering on deck to
watch the light glow which lit up the cloud of smoke hovering overhead.

We three watched it in silence for some time, with the other officers
near, and at last Smith said--

"I don't think I'm a cruel sort of fellow, but I feel as if I should
like to kill some one now."

He did not say a Chinese pirate, but he meant it; and I must confess to
feeling something of the kind, for I thought how satisfactory it would
be to aim one of our big guns at a pirate junk taken in some cruel act,
and to send a shot between wind and water that would sink her and rid
the seas of some of the fiends.

I quite started the next moment, for Barkins said, in a low, thoughtful
voice--

"How do you feel about it, Gnat? Shouldn't you like to kill some of
'em?"

The question was so direct, and appealed to my feelings so strongly,
that for some moments I was silent.

"Not he," said Smith; "old Gnat wouldn't stick a pin in a cockroach."

"Of course I wouldn't," I said stoutly, "but I'd crush it under my foot
if I found one in the cabin."

"One for you, Blacksmith," said Barkins. "Look here, Gnat, you would
like to kill some of the piratical beggars, wouldn't you?"

I remained silent again.

"There," said Smith, "I told you so. If we caught a lot, Gnat would
give them a lecture, and tell them they had been very naughty, and that
they mustn't do so any more or he would be very angry with them indeed."

"Punch his head, Gnat."

I made no reply to their flippant remarks, for just then I felt very
solemn and thoughtful. I hope I was not priggish. No, I am sure I was
not; every word I uttered was too sincere, though they chaffed me
afterwards, and I have thought since that they felt more seriously than
they spoke.

"You chaps didn't go on board that barque," I said quietly; "I did."

"Yes; old Dishy's making a regular favourite of you, Gnat," said
Barkins.

But I went on without heeding, my eyes fixed on the burning vessel whose
flames shone brightly in the clear air.

"And when I saw the splintered wood and chopped doorway, and the smears
and marks of blood, it all seemed to come to me just as it must have
been when the poor fellows shut themselves up in the cabin."

"Did they?" said Smith eagerly.

"Yes, that was plain enough," I said; "and they must have fought it out
there till the pirates got the upper hand."

"I bet tuppence the beggars pitched sti