ad me down, and twice I
got up agin and hammered 'em. They both of 'em 'ad knives, but my blood
was up, and I didn't take no more notice of 'em than if they was made of
paper. I knocked 'em both out o' their hands, and if I hit 'em in the
face once I did a dozen times. I surprised myself."

"You surprise me," ses Ginger.

"All of a sudden," ses Sam, "they see they 'ad got to do with a man wot
didn't know wot fear was, and they turned round and ran off as hard as
they could run. You ought to ha' been there, Ginger. You'd 'ave enjoyed
it."

Ginger Dick didn't answer 'im. Having to sit still and listen to all
them lies without being able to say anything nearly choked 'im. He sat
there gasping for breath.

"O' course, you got your purse back in the fight, Sam?" ses Peter.

"No, mate," ses Sam. "I ain't going to tell you no lies--I did not."

"And 'ow are you going to live, then, till you get a ship, Sam?" ses
Ginger, in a nasty voice. "You won't get nothing out o' me, so you
needn't think it."

"Wot on earth's the matter, Ginger?"

"Nor me," ses Peter. "Not a brass farthing."

"There's no call to be nasty about it, mates," ses Sam. "I 'ad the best
fight I ever 'ad in my life, and I must put up with the loss. A man
can't 'ave it all his own way."

"'Ow much was it?" ses Peter.

"Ten brace-buttons, three French ha'pennies, and a bit o' tin," ses Sam.
"Wot on earth's the matter, Ginger?"

[Illustration: "'Wot on earth's the matter, Ginger?'"]

Ginger didn't answer him.

SENTENCE DEFERRED

[Illustration: "An elderly man with a wooden leg, who joined the
indignant officer in the pursuit."]

Fortunately for Captain Bligh, there were but few people about, and the
only person who saw him trip Police-Sergeant Pilbeam was an elderly man
with a wooden leg, who joined the indignant officer in the pursuit. The
captain had youth on his side, and, diving into the narrow alley-ways
that constitute the older portion of Wood-hatch, he moderated his pace
and listened acutely. The sounds of pursuit died away in the distance,
and he had already dropped into a walk when the hurried tap of the wooden
leg sounded from one corner and a chorus of hurried voices from the
other. It was clear that the number of hunters had increased.

He paused a second, irresolute. The next, he pushed open a door that
stood ajar in an old flint wall and peeped in. He saw a small, brick-
paved yard, in which trim myrtles a