his injured
leg, and held it, as he bent over towards it and rocked himself to and
fro.

"Throbs and burns," he said, drawing in his breath as if in pain. "I--
I--"

He looked round wildly.

"I remember now," he said faintly. "Don't laugh at me, you chaps. I
turned sick as a dog as soon as that butchering was over. I never felt
like this over the fighting. I say, Gnat, did I faint right away?"

"Yes, dead!" I said; "I was nearly as bad."

"Enough to make you. But oh, my leg, how it does sting! I say, isn't
it queer that it should come on now? Did the fainting do it?"

"I dunno," said Smith hastily, "but my arm aches horribly. I say, do
let's get away from here, or I shall be obliged to look over yonder
again."

"Yes, I'm all right again now," said Barkins quietly. "Let's get away.
I say, lads, it's of no use to be humbugs; we did all feel precious bad,
eh?"

We looked at each other dolefully.

"Yes, let's get away," I said. "I thought we were coming out for a
jolly day."

Barkins shuddered and now stood up.

"Yes," he said; "I hope the skipper liked it. Can you see him now?"

"Skipper? Cap'n?" said Ching, whose ears were always sharp enough to
catch our words. "Gone along, Mr Leardon. Make gland plocession all
away back to palace. You go sail, soon catch more pilate."

"I hope, if we do," said Smith, "that we shall not bring back any
prisoners."

The enclosure was thinning fast now, as we walked toward the gateway by
which we had entered, where a strong body of soldiers had been on guard
over the barricades, in case of an attempt being made by the pirates'
friends to rescue them, and we saw plainly enough that had we wanted
there would have been no getting away.

"You likee go in and see plison?" said Ching insinuatingly. "Plenty bad
men lock up safe."

"No, thank you," I said eagerly. "Let's get out of this, and go and
have some tea."

"Yes, plenty tea. Ching show way."

The Chinese soldiers stared at us haughtily as we walked by, and I drew
myself up, hoping that no one there had witnessed our weakness, for if
they had I knew that they could not feel much respect for the
blue-jackets who hunted down the scoundrels that infested their seas.

Both Barkins and Smith must have felt something after the fashion that I
did, for they too drew themselves up, returned the haughty stares, and
Barkins stopped short to look one truculent savage fellow over from head
to foot, especiall