er course a couple of points as the sheets
were eased off. A little way to windward of the raft, she hove to while
a small boat was hoisted out. Curiosity prompted Blackbeard to find out
who these castaways were and from what ship they had drifted. It
occurred to Joe Hawkridge that he might be in quest of tidings of the
two sloops of his squadron which no longer kept him company. Jack
Cockrell's teeth chattered but not with cold as the boat bobbed away
from the side of the _Revenge_. Presently Joe recognized the pirate at
the steering oar as a petty officer who had often befriended him.

This fellow's swarthy, pockmarked face crinkled in a smile as he
flourished his broad hat and yelled:

"Stab my gizzard, but here's the London 'prentice-boy a-cruisin' on his
own adventure."

"Right-o, Jesse Strawn," Joe called back. "My bark is short-handed. I
need lively recruits. Will ye enlist?"

The boat's crew laughed at this as they reached out to lay hold of the
raft while the two lads leaped aboard. Joe Hawkridge carried it off with
rough bravado as though glad to be among his pals again. They eyed Jack
Cockrell with quizzical interest and he did his best to be at ease,
permitting Joe to vouch for him as a young gentleman with a taste for
piracy who had won Blackbeard's favor in the _Plymouth Adventure_. They
were plied with eager questions regarding the fate of the merchant ship
and Ned Rackham's prize crew. It was a chance to rehearse the tale as
they had concocted it, and it seemed to hang together well enough to
satisfy these simple rogues.

In his turn, Joe Hawkridge demanded to know the gossip of the _Revenge_.
The storm had sobered Blackbeard, it seemed, and he had displayed the
skill of a masterly seaman in bringing them safely through. In toiling
for their own lives, the men had forgotten their brawls and plots and
guzzling. And the great wind had blown the ship clear of Spanish fever.
There were no new cases and the invalids were gaining strength. Fresh
food and sweet water were needed and the opinion was that Blackbeard now
steered for an old rendezvous of his on the North Carolina coast where
his sloops would meet him if they were still afloat.

Jack Cockrell found his courage returning as he clambered up the side of
the _Revenge_ and followed Joe aft to the quarter-deck. Unless they
bungled it, there was a chance that they might escape when the pirates
made their landing on the coast to refresh themselves and