are away, will they?" he
said, with an uneasy look over his shoulder.

"They are well watched," I replied, "and we shall not be very long."

"Ah! It would be very dreadful if they did, Dale. Have they been fed
this morning?"

"Why, you talk as if they were wild beasts in a cage, Mr Preddle," I
said merrily.

"So they are," he cried,--"worse. I feel sometimes as if I could kill
them all."

"Gone to her own cabin, Dale," said Mr Frewen, meeting us at the
saloon-door-way, and Mr Preddle looked at us inquiringly.

"Dale is afraid of Miss Denning seeing his wounds," said Mr Frewen,
laughing. "He does not think they look the proper kind to be proud of."

"I wish you wouldn't joke me about my bad face, Mr Frewen," I said, as
we entered the far cabin, where the mate was seated by Captain
Berriman's cot, and I was startled to see how changed he looked.

But his eyes were bright, and he held out his hand to each in turn, as
we stood about with the door well open, the place of course being very
small.

"Now, sir," said Mr Brymer, firmly, "you know how we stand. I'm
horribly averse to taking life, but things cannot go on as they are."

"No," said the captain, in a voice hardly above a whisper. "You must
act now, and firmly, before there is loss of life on our side."

"That means then," said Mr Frewen, "shooting down every man who attacks
us."

"Of course," said a low, firm voice, and I started to see that Mr
Denning was standing outside.

"My practice is always to save life if I can, Mr Denning," said the
doctor, sadly. "Are you not too hard and revengeful?"

"Neither, sir," replied Mr Denning, sternly. "If I were alone I would
say nothing, but I have my sister to protect, and I say that at any cost
these ruffians must not leave that place alive."

There was so absolute a silence in the captain's cabin, that we all
heard distinctly a piteous sigh from that which Mr Denning had just
left.

"Yes, Mr Denning is quite right," said Mr Preddle, in his
highly-pitched voice. "I hate all this, and I am not a fighting man;
but I know that I shall fire on the first wretch who tries to break out
without a qualm."

"You hear, Mr Frewen," said the mate; "I am forced by circumstances to
take very strong measures."

"That may mean the death of several of those misguided men?" said Mr
Frewen, excitedly.

"I fear so, sir. But Captain Berriman agrees with me that it is our
duty, unless we like to well provision a