u've made it fast."

"If I do," whispered Mark.

"You will, sir," said the man, confidently. "Give four jigs, and up we
come. Got your dirk?"

"Yes."

"Draw it, sir; hold it in your teeth, to leave your hands free, and if
any one comes at you use it. That thing can't kill."

Mark drew a deep breath, thrust himself half out of the window, turned,
and gazed up.

All was perfectly silent--not a suggestion of an enemy above; and
getting right out, the boy seized the carved ornamentation of the stern
above the window, raised one foot, to find a resting-place on a kind of
broad beading or streak, and began to climb.

CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN.

ON DECK AGAIN.

Nothing of a climb up over the stern of that schooner, a trifle compared
to the same task on the _Nautilus_; but it was hard work to Mark
Vandean, who had to move by inches, getting well hold and drawing
himself up till he was about to reach his hand over the top, when he
felt one foot gliding from its support, and thought that he was gone.
But a spasmodic clutch saved him, and after clinging there motionless
and in a terribly constrained attitude for a time, he drew a long breath
once more, reached up suddenly, got a secure hold, and then hung for a
few moments before seeking about with his foot for a fresh
resting-place.

To his great delight, he found one directly; and, slight as it was, it
was sufficient to enable him to raise his head very slowly till his eyes
were level with the edge, and he could peer over the stern rail.

That which he saw paralysed him, and he remained perfectly motionless,
gazing at the black silhouette of the man at the helm seen against the
dull, soft light shed by the binnacle lamp.

This man was motionless, leaning on the wheel with his back to the
spectator, but the light shone softly upon the forehead of another,
seated on a coil of rope not six feet from Mark, and a little to his
left.

This man, whom he recognised at once as the fellow who had struck at
him, was intent upon the task of shredding some tobacco up finely, and
tucking it into the bowl of a pipe, dimly-seen below where the light
from the lamp struck; and as Mark watched him, not daring to move for
fear of being heard, the slaver finished his task.

"Open that lantern," he said shortly to the other; and, rising, he took
a step forward, Mark taking advantage of the noise he made to lower his
head and listen.

The next moment the man altered his mind, as