's orders,
their rough, weatherbeaten faces looking fierce in the shadowy twilight,
for the lanterns swinging fore and aft only seemed to make darkness
visible; and as the trampling went on, evidently that of men wearing
heavy fisher-boots, the steps were within a few inches of the heads of
the crew.

"Pair o' pistols, sir," said a low, gruff voice; and Hilary started, for
the gunner had come up quite silently. "Shall I shove 'em in your belt,
sir?"

"Yes," said Hilary sharply; and the gunner thrust the barrels of the two
heavy, clumsy weapons into the young officer's sword-belt, where they
stuck in a most inconvenient way.

"Both loaded, sir, and cocked," said the gunner quietly. Hilary nodded,
and stood thinking.

It was an awkward time for quiet thought, for he knew that the men were
anxiously awaiting some order; but, for the reasons above given, no
order came, and the force of his position came with crushing violence
upon the young officer's head.

He knew that the lieutenant was to blame for not being prepared for an
attack, however little it might be anticipated; but at the same time he
would have to share the lieutenant's disgrace as second officer--the
disgrace of a well manned and armed king's ship falling into the hands
of a pack of smugglers.

He knew, too, that if he had proposed taking precautions, Lieutenant
Lipscombe would have laughed at him, and refused to take his advice; but
he would have felt more at rest if he had made the suggestion.

But the mishap had happened, and according to the old proverb it was of
no use to cry over spilt milk. What he felt he had to do now was to
find a cow and get some more.

But how?

By the sounds on deck it was evident that the cutter had been seized by
quite a strong party, and it was no less certain that they would not
have made so desperate a move if they had not some particular venture on
the way. What Hilary felt then was that he must not only turn the
tables on the attacking party, but try and make a valuable capture as
well.

But again--how?

He could not answer the question, but as he tried to solve the
difficulty the feeling was strong upon him--could he manage to do this
before the lieutenant recovered?

The excitement produced by this idea was such that it drove away all
thoughts of peril and danger, and he could think of nothing but the dash
and daring of such an exploit.

As he thought, his hand gripped the hilt of his sword more ti