lug
having gone right through the calf.

I could not help admiring the calm stolidity with which the two men bore
what must have been a painful operation, for neither flinched, but sat
in turn gazing at his messmate, as much as to say, "That's the way to
take it, my lad; look at me."

This done, Mr Brooke turned his attention to the wound received by the
boat, where the charge from the swivel gun had gone crashing through the
top of the cabin and out at the side. It was a gaping wound in the
slight planking of the boat, but the shot had torn their way out some
distance above the water-line, so that unless very rough weather came on
there was no danger, and we had other and more serious business now to
take up our attention.

For Ching pointed out to us a certain amount of bustle on board the
junk, which was explained by a puff of smoke and a roar, as
simultaneously the water was ploughed up close to our stern.

"Not clever at their gun drill," said Mr Brooke coolly, as he took the
helm himself now, and sent the boat dancing along over the waves, so as
to keep her endwise to the junk, and present a smaller object for the
pirate's aim.

"That's bad management under some circumstances, Herrick," he said,
smiling. "It's giving an enemy the chance of raking us from stern to
stem, but I don't believe they can hit us.--I thought not."

He said this smiling, as the water was churned up again by another shot,
but several yards away upon our right.

Another shot and another followed without result, and by this time we
were getting well out of range of the swivel gun, a poor, roughly-made
piece, and our distance was being rapidly increased.

"Going away!" said Ching, as we saw the great mat-sails of the junk
fill.

"Or to come in chase--which?" said Mr Brooke quietly. "It does not
matter," he added; "we shall soon have darkness again, and I think we
shall be too nimble for them then."

"Beg pardon, sir," said Tom Jecks.

"Yes, what is it? Your wound painful?"

"Tidy, sir; but that warn't it. I was only going to say, look yonder."

He pointed right away east, and, as we followed his finger with our
eyes, they lit upon a sight which would have even made me, inexperienced
as I was, think it was time to seek the shelter of some port. And that
something unusual was going to happen, I knew directly from Mr Brooke's
way of standing up to shelter his eyes, and then, after gazing for some
time in one direction, he tu