ll to the _Sovereign_ and when we arrived her
captain was on deck with his daughter. She had finished trying to
persuade him to leave his fortune, and stood near our third officer,
who was ready to start back with the remainder of the crew. All but
four men had insisted on leaving. These were the steward, two
quartermasters, and a sailor.

"If there is any valuable stuff in the way of currency or spices, you can
turn them over to me, and our captain will give you his receipt for
them," I said, as I came over the side.

The little Englishman looked slowly up and down my six feet and more of
length as I stood on the rail, and I fancied he smiled slightly. He was
a florid-faced, bearded man, with clear blue eyes which had no sign of
fear in them.

"I reckon we'll risk taking in what we have," said he; "at the same time
I want to thank your captain for standing by and taking the men he has
already. You don't think he could spare a few volunteers to help me in,
do you? I'll give a hundred pounds to every man who'll stand by and run
the risk."

"Well," I stammered, "I'm second mate myself, and therefore can't very
well leave; but he's sent you one extra hand. The fellow is a good enough
sailor, but he's in irons for fighting. He wants you to take him in
exchange for the men you've sent."

The florid face of the English captain grew redder. His blue eyes
seemed to draw to small points that pricked my inner consciousness. I
suppose I showed some of my embarrassment, for he spoke in a gentler
tone than I expected.

"Sir. I keep no one in peril against his wish. Neither do I run a
convict ship. You may take your desperado back to your captain with
the compliments of Captain Sackett, once of Her Majesty's Naval
Reserve, and tell him the laws of his country are sufficient to deal
with all persons."

"If I did," I answered, "you would have your men forced back into your
wrecked vessel." And I pointed to the main deck, upon which the sea
rolled and swashed in little foamy waves through the side ports, which
were now below the heave of the swell. She was clear under amidships, and
only the topgallant forecastle and poop were out of water, which was now
nearly level with the floor in the after cabin. Everything showed wreck
and ruin, from the splintered spars and tangled rigging to the
yellow-white gaps in her bulwarks where the masts had crashed through.

"The will of the Lord is not to be set aside," he went on, with solemn