Mr Brymer, "or I give the order
to fire."

"Bah! don't be a fool, Brymer," he shouted. "Pull away, my lads; they
won't fire. Hi! there, the rest of you, don't take any notice of the
mate. We saw you were on fire and in danger. We saw the fire and smoke
in the night, and came to save you."

"In the same way as you deserted the ship when you thought she would
sink," said Mr Brymer, tauntingly.

"Pull, my lads, and get aboard," cried Jarette, so that the men in the
other boat could hear; "he doesn't know what he's talking about. We'll
put the fire out, and then talk to him."

Bang! went Mr Brymer's revolver, fired over the heads of the men in
Jarette's boat, and the Frenchman fell backward into the stern-sheets.

I thought he was killed, and the men ceased rowing.

But Jarette was up again directly.

"Pull, you beasts!" he cried. "You jerked me off my feet. You, there,"
he roared to the men in the second boat, "round to the starboard side
and board there. No--"

He leaned over the side and said something behind his hand to the men in
the other boat, which we could not hear, but we did hear him say--"We
must have her. It's too far to row."

Those last words enlightened us, telling as they did that the boats had
made very little progress, but had drifted with the current just as the
ship had, and they could never have been very far away. They must too
have supposed the vessel had sunk till they saw the fire renewed, when
feeling that they had been premature in forsaking her, they came back,
and were no doubt a good deal taken aback by finding us there ready to
defy them.

"Now!" shouted Jarette. "Ready? Off!"

The boats came on in spite of two or three shots fired from the deck,
and then, with Jarette rapidly returning our fire, they were soon close
up and sheltered to a great extent.

Jarette's boat came right alongside at once in the most plucky manner,
urged on as the men were by their leader, who seemed utterly devoid of
fear. But the other boat rowed right round by the stern, and its
occupants were damped on finding that unless they could mount by the
fore or mizzen-chains, there was apparently no means of reaching the
deck. They ceased rowing in each of these places, but there were a
couple of defenders ready at each halt, and they made no further
attempt, but lay on their oars in a half-hearted way, as if waiting for
an opportunity to occur.

But meanwhile the fight had begun by the main