ll back shot through the breast. The mass in
the doorway hung irresolute, and then by sheer weight of pressure from
behind burst forward, and as it so burst, the heavy door crashed into
its jambs, and the bolts were shot into their places.

All this took place by one of those simultaneous movements which are so
rapid in execution, so tedious to describe in detail. At one instant the
prison door had opened, at the next it had closed. The picture which
had presented itself to the eyes of the convicts was as momentary as are
those of the thaumatoscope. The period of time that had elapsed between
the opening and the shutting of the door could have been marked by the
musket shot.

The report of another shot, and then a noise of confused cries, mingled
with the clashing of arms, informed the imprisoned men that the ship
had been alarmed. How would it go with their friends on deck? Would they
succeed in overcoming the guards, or would they be beaten back? They
would soon know; and in the hot dusk, straining their eyes to see each
other, they waited for the issue Suddenly the noises ceased, and a
strange rumbling sound fell upon the ears of the listeners.

* * * * *

What had taken place?

This--the men pouring out of the darkness into the sudden glare of
the lanterns, rushed, bewildered, across the deck. Miles, true to his
promise, did not fire, but the next instant Vickers had snatched the
firelock from him, and leaping into the stream, turned about and
fired down towards the prison. The attack was more sudden then he had
expected, but he did not lose his presence of mind. The shot would serve
a double purpose. It would warn the men in the barrack, and perhaps
check the rush by stopping up the doorway with a corpse. Beaten back,
struggling, and indignant, amid the storm of hideous faces, his humanity
vanished, and he aimed deliberately at the head of Mr. James Vetch; the
shot, however, missed its mark, and killed the unhappy Miles.

Gabbett and his companions had by this time reached the foot of the
companion ladder, there to encounter the cutlasses of the doubled guard
gleaming redly in the glow of the lanterns. A glance up the hatchway
showed the giant that the arms he had planned to seize were defended by
ten firelocks, and that, behind the open doors of the partition which
ran abaft the mizenmast, the remainder of the detachment stood to their
arms. Even his dull int