hose papers
and come out.'

"For answer I sent a charge of shot through the cabin door, and in an
instant heard him scrambling back with all speed up the stairs.

"By this time it was about 3 a.m., and to add to the horrors of our
plight the lamp suddenly went out and left us in utter darkness.
I drew Mrs. Concanen aside--after strengthening the barricade about
the door--put her and the child in a corner where she would be safe
if they attempted to fire through the skylight, and then sat down
beside her to consider.

"If, as I suspected, the mutineers had only the revolver which they
had taken from the captain, they had but one shot left, for I had
already counted five, and it was not likely that Holding--who always,
as I knew, carried some weapon with him--would have any loose
cartridges upon him at a time when no one suspected the least danger.

"Next, as to numbers. Excluding Captain Holding--now dead--and
including the cook I reckoned that there were fourteen hands on
board. Of these, five were sick and probably at this moment
barricaded in the forecastle. One, the carpenter, was lying here
dead, and from the shriek which preceded the captain's cry, another
had already been accounted for by the mutineers.

"This reduced the number to eight. The next question was, how many
were the mutineers? I had guessed at once that Colliver and Railton
had a hand in the business, for (in addition to my previous distrust
of the men) it was just upon midnight when we heard the first cry,
that is to say, the time when the watch was changed, and I knew that
these two belonged to the captain's watch. But could they be alone?

"It seemed impossible, and yet I knew no others among the crew to
distrust, and certainly Davis, who was acting as mate at present,
was, although an indifferent navigator, as true as steel. Moreover,
the fact that the mutineers' success in shooting the doctor had not
been followed up, made my guess seem more likely. Certainly Colliver
and Railton were the only two of whom we could be sure as yet.
Nevertheless the supposition was amazing.

"I had arrived at this point in my calculations when a yell which I
recognised, told me that they had caught Cox the helmsman and were
murdering him. After this came dead silence, which lasted all
through the night.

"I must hasten to conclude this, for we have no light in the cabin,
and I am writing now by the faint evening rays that struggle in
through the