ws, where we ought to get up for me
to tackle the gun."

"Yes," whispered Poole, "but if we do that there'll be no chance
afterwards to foul the screw; and that ought to be done, so that we can
get rid of this cable. It will be horribly in the way if we have to row
for our lives."

Fitz pressed his companion's arm sharply, for at that moment there was
another yawn from the gunboat's deck, followed by a muttering grumbling
sound as of two men talking, suggesting that one had woke the other, who
was finding fault. But all sound died out, and then there was the deep
silence once again.

The lads waited till they thought all was safe, while their crew never
stirred, and Poole whispered once more--"Well, what is to be done?"

The next moment Fitz's lips were sending tickling words into the lad's
ear, as he said sharply--

"Mustn't change--stick to our plans. I am going to tell Butters to work
the boat alongside, and then pass her to the stern."

"Hah!" breathed Poole, as he listened for the faint rustle made by his
companion in leaning towards the boatswain and whispering his commands.

The next minute the boat was in motion, being paddled slowly towards the
gunboat in a way the boys did not know till afterwards, for it was as if
the gig as it lay there in the black darkness was some kind of fish,
which had suddenly put its fins in motion, the five men having leaned
sideways, each to lower a hand into the water and paddle the boat along
without a sound.

The darkness seemed to be as black as it could possibly be, but all at
once, paradoxical as it may seem, it grew thicker, for a great black
wall had suddenly appeared looming over the boat, and Poole put out his
hand, to feel the cold armour-plating gliding by his fingers, as the
men, to his astonishment, kept the craft in motion till they had passed
right along and their progress was checked by the gig being laid bow-on
beside the gunboat's rudder; and as soon as the lads could fully realise
their position they grasped the fact that the propeller must be just
beneath the water the boat's length in front of where they sat.

Then silence once again, every one's heart beating slowly, but with a
dull heavy throb that seemed to send the blood rushing through the
arteries and veins, producing in the case of the lads a sensation of
dizziness that was some moments before it passed off, driven away as it
was by the tension and the acute desire to grasp the slightest sou