was enough to have abroad, without clean
drownin' all the luck this way," while the crew looked black and shifted
uneasily in their places.

The bay where they had anchored overnight must have been somewhere on
the eastern end of Long Island, a favorite landing place for pirates at
that time. All day they cruised along the hilly southern shore. The men
seemed unable to cast off the gloom that had settled upon them. Stede
Bonnet sat in his cabin, never once coming on deck, and drinking hard, a
thing unusual for him. Jeremy, who saw more of him than any of the
foremast hands, realized from his gray, set face that the man was under
a terrible strain of some sort. He told Job what he had seen and the
tall New Englander looked very thoughtful. He took the boy aside.
"There'll be mutiny in this crew before another night," he whispered.
"They'll never stand for what he's done. If it comes to handspikes, you
and I'd best watch our chance to clear out. Pharaoh Daggs don't love us
a mite."

But the mutiny was destined not to occur. An hour before noon next day
the lookout, constantly stationed in the bows, gave a loud "Sail ho!"
and as Dave Herriot re-echoed the shout, all hands tumbled on deck with
a rush.

CHAPTER VIII

As the pirate sloop raced southward under full sail, the form of the
other ship became steadily plainer. She was a brig, high-pooped, and
tall-masted, and apparently deeply laden. Major Bonnet, who had come up
at the first warning, seemed his old cool self as he conned the enemy
through a spyglass. Jeremy had been detailed as a sort of errand boy,
and as he stood at the Captain's side he heard him speaking to Herriot.

"She's British, right enough," he was saying. "I can make out her flag;
but how many guns, 'tis harder to tell. She sees us now, I think, for
they seem to be shaking out a topsail.... Ah, now I can see the sun
shine on her broadside--two ... three ... five in the lower port tier,
and three more above--sixteen in all. 'Twill be a fight, it seems!"

Aboard the _Royal James_ the men were slaving like ants, preparing for
the battle. Every man knew his duties. The gunners and swabbers were
putting their cannon in fettle below decks. Others were rolling out
round-shot from the hold and storing powder in iron-cased lockers behind
the guns. Great tubs of sea water were placed conveniently in the
'tween-decks and blankets were put to soak for use in case of fire.
Buckets of vinegar water for