eaties, how
ever, were of course unavailing with two men who knew not the meaning of
mercy; there was a Spanish oath or two, the sound of a scuffle, mingled
with further cries of distress from the steward, the slamming of a door,
the sharp click of a lock; and a moment later Jose and his companion
emerged upon the deck, staggered to the gangway, scrambled down the
side, and the boat was shoved off.

I waited until the boat was fairly away from the ship's side, and then,
slipping down the dark companion-way, groped about until I had found the
pantry, which I unlocked, to find the unhappy steward, bound hand and
foot, prostrate on the deck, weeping bitterly. In reply to my question
he told me where I could lay my hand upon a knife, finding which I cut
him adrift, and directed him to go forward to the forecastle to
ascertain whether any of the crew were imprisoned down there. Then,
making my way to the still open lazarette, I swung myself down into it,
and called Maxwell's name as loudly as I dared. He heard and answered
me at once.

"The rascals have left the ship," I cried, "so you may ram those plugs
home as tightly as you can, and perhaps even venture to give them a
gentle tap or two, but we must leave the final driving until the
brigantine has moved off; everything has gone right thus far, and it
will never do to spoil it all now by being impatient. Has she taken in
much water?"

"Not more than we can pump out of her in ten minutes," was the reply, as
I sighted him creeping toward me along the narrow space underneath the
beams. "They only bored five holes through her, and I've already
plugged 'em tight enough to stop the water from comin' in--though of
course they'll want a few good taps on the head to make 'em all secure.
But that job can wait until the brigantine is a mile or two further
away."

"Had you any difficulty in plugging the holes?" I asked, as honest Joe
emerged into the more open spaces about the hatchway.

"Not a bit, sir," he answered. "You see the way of it was this: As soon
as I got to understand that they was likely to scuttle the ship, the
first thing I says to myself was: `I wonder,' I says, `what size auger
them murderin' scoundrels is likely to use? Because if I only knowed
that, I could make my plugs to fit the holes.' Then the next thing I
thought was that prob'ly they wouldn't remember to bring a tool aboard
with 'em, and that they'd hunt for some'at of the sort aboard here. S