ger, and aboard one was a native with a big gun, firing a
heavy bullet. He shot our tiller away at a critical moment. But we
used the stoking rod, and--and here we are."

"Quite so, Mr Stapleton, here you are," said the Commodore, with a
pleasant little smile. "But you will excuse me. As a naval officer, I
would like to hear how it is that you are here at all. You had an army
to contend with. They were in boats. There were two large war craft,
and a man with an elephant gun, a small cannon in fact. Your tiller was
shot away, and I have noticed that your funnel is perforated. Your boat
is marked with slugs from bow to stern, and there are some pounds of
slugs and pebbles on the decks or embedded in the woodwork. You had one
stoker with you. Two for a crew to man the vessel and fight her. This
requires a little more explanation."

Willingly would Dick have escaped further conversation, for the reader
must recollect that he was unused to this official atmosphere, and felt
more than overawed by the presence of the officers, looking so keen and
spruce. However, there were friendly smiles to encourage him, and he
blurted out his news.

"Oh, we ran for the far side of the river, firing as we went," he said.
"Then there was a chance. A war boat left a gap behind her and we
slipped into it. But they can back their boats by simply turning on
their heels and reversing their paddles, and so she came right across
us. But we let 'em have it broadside on and crumpled 'em up. A few
clung to us or jumped aboard, but we shot one or two, and Johnnie hit
the rest over the head with his shovel. Then the fellow with the gun
got our range again, and it looked a little nasty for a while. But we
shot him, and then--well, here we are."

There was a hearty laugh at his words and at the obvious confusion under
which he laboured. But the Commodore soon straightened his features and
again asked a very pertinent question.

"If you please," he said sweetly, "who are `we'? You say `we' all the
way through. We left the stockade; we paid the men off; we fitted the
stoking bar as a tiller; we steered the launch over the war boat; and we
shot the man with the gun when things began to look nasty. Do you mean
that you and Johnnie did these things together?"

Then our hero was compelled to give the details, while the perspiration
poured from his forehead. For if he was brave, he was undoubtedly
modest.

"And now I will tell you