suits you."

Diggens was a sot and a fool, but he did not want for pluck. His first
disposition was to give battle, beginning to call out for his men to come
to his assistance, but I put an end to this, by seizing him by the collar,
and dropping him, a little unceremoniously, down the companion-way. Half
an hour later, he was dead drunk, and snoring on the cabin floor.

There remained only the man at the wheel to overcome He was a seaman, of
course, and one of those quiet, orderly men, who usually submit to the
powers that be. Approaching him, I said--

"You see how it is, my lad; the ship has again changed owners. As for you,
you shall be treated as you behave. Stand to the wheel, and you'll get
good treatment and plenty of grog, but, by becoming fractious, you'll find
yourself in irons before you know where you are."

"Ay--ay, sir--" answered the man, touching his hat, and contenting
himself with this brief and customary reply.

"Now, Mr. Marble," I continued, "it is time to have an eye on the boat,
which will soon find the man, or give him up. I own, that I wish we had
recovered the ship without tossing the poor fellow overboard."

"Fellow overboard!" cried Marble, laughing--"I'd ha' thrown all England
into the sea had it been necessary and in my power, but it wasn't
necessary to throw overboard so much as a child. The chap they're arter is
nothing but one of the fenders, with the deep sea lashed to its smaller
end, and a tarpaulin stopped on the larger! Mr. Sennit need be in no great
hurry, for I'll engage his 'man overboard' will float as long as
his yawl!"

The whole of Marble's expedient was thus explained, and I confess I was
much relieved by a knowledge of the truth. Apart from the general relief
that accompanied the consciousness of not having taken human life, should
we again fall into English hands, a thing by no means improbable, in the
situation in which we were placed, this circumstance might be of the last
importance to us. In the mean time, however, I had to look to the boat
and the ship.

The first thing we did was to clew up the three top-gallant-sails. This
gave us a much easier command of the vessel, short-handed as we were, and
it rendered it less hazardous to the spars to keep the Dawn on a wind.
When this was done, I ordered the after-braces manned, and the leaches
brought as near as possible to touching. It was time; for the oars were
heard, and then I got a view of the boat as it came