was now opened with a quick dash, so that the noise it
would make might be covered by the storm.

Yes; I could mentally see it all now, though everything was black as
ink. Jarette was standing in the door-way in his oilskins, for I could
hear the crackling sound they made as the noise from the deck and the
hiss of the wind came plainer, and then too, drip, drip,--in those
moments I could hear the water falling from the coat on to the
cabin-floor.

It was all in so many moments. He seemed to be listening either for any
sound we might make, or for what was passing on deck; and then as he
took a step forward into the cabin, there was a sudden rush, a struggle,
and for the moment, as my blood ran cold, I thought that Jarette had
seized and was about to murder poor Mr Frewen.

My hand went to the foot of the cot, and I was dragging out the revolver
hidden there, when a hoarse voice exclaimed in a husky whisper--

"Avast! what are yer doing on, Mr Frewen?--you'll choke me."

"You, Hampton?"

"Ay, at present."

"I thought it was Jarette," said Mr Frewen, panting.

"Wish it had been, my lad," said the sailor, in the same husky whisper.
"My word, you have got a grip! But there, I must get back; on'y look
here. There'll never be a better chance. Here's an old bosun's
whistle; stuff it in yer pocket, and don't blow it till the right
moment. When you do, blow hard, and me, Barney, and Neb Dumlow's with
you."

"But--"

"Butter be hanged, doctor. You've got three pistols, and the door's
open. You let out the mate, Mr Denning, and Mr Fishmonger; wait till
you think the moment's right, and then down on old Frenchy; whistle
hard, and then we'll all make a rush for the others, and drive 'em chock
into the forksle, or overboard if they don't mind. Off!"

"One moment, Hampton;" but there was a sharp rustling of oilskins, and
the man had hurried through the saloon and out on deck, where Jarette's
voice could be heard shouting above the din of the wind and sea.

In the cabin then for a few moments there was silence, and I stood in
that black darkness with my heart beating painfully, waiting for Mr
Frewen to speak, and face to face with the thought that in a few minutes
I might be engaged in a desperate struggle with a man and his followers,
and that they would stop at nothing when attacked.

"Why don't you speak--why don't you speak?" I kept saying to myself,
with a feeling of anger against the man who was absolute