s: first, that the death might take a man
suddenly; and second, for the horror of that great, salt smother and
welter under my foot here"--and Lawless stamped with his foot.
"Howbeit," he went on, "an I die not a sailor's death, and that this
night, I shall owe a tall candle to our Lady."

"Is it so?" asked Dick.

"It is right so," replied the outlaw. "Do ye not feel how heavy and dull
she moves upon the waves? Do ye not hear the water washing in her hold?
She will scarce mind the rudder even now. Bide till she has settled a
bit lower; and she will either go down below your boots like a stone
image, or drive ashore here, under our lee, and come all to pieces like a
twist of string."

"Ye speak with a good courage," returned Dick. "Ye are not then
appalled?"

"Why, master," answered Lawless, "if ever a man had an ill crew to come
to port with, it is I--a renegade friar, a thief, and all the rest on't.
Well, ye may wonder, but I keep a good hope in my wallet; and if that I
be to drown, I will drown with a bright eye, Master Shelton, and a steady
hand."

Dick returned no answer; but he was surprised to find the old vagabond of
so resolute a temper, and fearing some fresh violence or treachery, set
forth upon his quest for three sure men. The great bulk of the men had
now deserted the deck, which was continually wetted with the flying
sprays, and where they lay exposed to the shrewdness of the winter wind.
They had gathered, instead, into the hold of the merchandise, among the
butts of wine, and lighted by two swinging lanterns.

Here a few kept up the form of revelry, and toasted each other deep in
Arblaster's Gascony wine. But as the Good Hope continued to tear through
the smoking waves, and toss her stem and stern alternately high in air
and deep into white foam, the number of these jolly companions diminished
with every moment and with every lurch. Many sat apart, tending their
hurts, but the majority were already prostrated with sickness, and lay
moaning in the bilge.

Greensheve, Cuckow, and a young fellow of Lord Foxham's whom Dick had
already remarked for his intelligence and spirit, were still, however,
both fit to understand and willing to obey. These Dick set, as a
body-guard, about the person of the steersman, and then, with a last look
at the black sky and sea, he turned and went below into the cabin,
whither Lord Foxham had been carried by his servants.

CHAPTER VI--THE GOOD HOPE (conclud