the butt of the pistol desperately.

Bonnet had raised his weapon, pointing to the ceiling. "I shall count
three, then fire," said he in the same even voice.

"One----" But before he spoke again his opponent had jerked his muzzle
down and fired. Bonnet must have seen the flash of the intention in his
eyes, for he threw himself to the left at that instant, and the shot
went crashing through a panel of the door. With the deliberate sureness
of Fate the pirate took aim at his adversary, who whimpered and
grovelled behind the table. Then he shot him. Jeremy's knees went limp,
but he saved himself from falling and managed to set the bottles on the
table.

Behind him as he staggered out, Stede Bonnet poured himself a glass of
wine and drank it with a steady hand. The boy met a crowd of men at the
head of the companion, but was too shaken to tell them what had
happened. Herriot, going below, heard the details of the duel from the
Captain's own lips. Under the sailing-master's orders the body of the
dead man was carried out on deck, sewed into a piece of sailcloth and
heaved over the rail without more ado. Jeremy made his way to his bunk
and told Bob the story between chattering teeth.

There was silence on the ship that afternoon. Bonnet's action had
sobered his rough company to the point where they ceased quarreling and
talked in undertones, gathering in little knots about the slanted deck
when not at work. The two boys were glad enough to be out of the way.
Jeremy, tired and discouraged, sat on the bunk's edge, his shoulders
hunched and his eyes on the floor. His young companion, who had more
cause for hope, watched him with sympathetic eyes. He could see that the
New England boy was too dejected even to try to plan their escape--the
usual occupation of their hours together. Finally he reached over, a bit
shyly, and gave him a friendly pat on the back.

"Brace up, Jeremy," he said. "You're clean tuckered out, but a rest and
a nap'll help. Here, cover yourself up and I'll do your work tonight.
Maybe I'll have a scheme thought up to tell you in the morning."

Jeremy cared little whether he slept or woke, for the events of the past
days, coupled with the disappointment of not being set ashore as he had
hoped, had brought even his determined courage to a low ebb. He was on
the verge of a fever, and Bob's prescription of rest and sleep was what
he most needed. Made snug at the back side of the berth, where little
or no lig