ely enough; she has all the look of it. And
now, what about casualties? have you suffered much?"

"Rather severely, sir, I am sorry to say. Five killed, and eighteen--or
rather, nineteen with Mr Chester--wounded; eight of them severely. I
am afraid we shall lose little Fisher, sir."

"Lose little Fisher!" exclaimed the skipper. "Why, whoever was
thoughtless enough to let that poor child go upon so dangerous an
expedition?"

Flinn looked at me, and I at him; but neither of us could plead guilty,
so the matter dropped for the time.

The surgeon and his assistant now trundled down over the side, with
their tools under their arms, and went on board the prizes to attend to
the poor fellows who were wounded, Mr Flinn returning with them to
arrange the prize crews, and to anchor the prizes, the skipper having
come to the determination to remain in smooth water until the wounded
had all been attended to and placed comfortably in their own hammocks on
board the frigate.

In the mean time I trundled down into the midshipmen's berth, bathed my
wound--a scalp-wound about six inches long--in cold water, clapped on a
quarter of a yard of diachylon plaster, a sheet of which I always took
the precaution to keep in my own chest, snatched a mouthful or so of
biscuit and cold meat, and then returned to the deck to see if I could
be of use.

"Oh! I've been looking for you, sir," said the captain's steward, as I
put my head above the coamings. "The captain wishes to see you in his
cabin at once, if you please, sir."

"Is he there now, Polson? All right, then, I'll go down to him
forthwith," and away I went.

"Come in!" said the deep, musical voice of the skipper, in answer to my
knock. I entered.

"Oh! It's you, Ralph. Come in and sit down. I see you have been doing
a little patching up on your own account. Is it very had?"

"Thank you, no; a mere breaking of the skin," I replied. "I shall be as
good as new in a day or two, I hope."

"That's well. Still you had better let Mr Oxley look at it when he is
at leisure. Very trifling wounds turn out badly sometimes in this hot
climate. And now--I want to speak to you about that poor lad Fisher. I
am told he was in the gig with you."

"In the gig with me!" I echoed taken thoroughly by surprise. "I assure
you, Captain Annesley, I was quite unaware of it, then. Indeed, I was
not aware that he had left the ship until Mr Flinn spoke of him as
being wounded. I haven