he water was rising in her steadily.

The captain showed himself a true seaman and leader. He had been wounded
in the shoulder, but the hurt had been bound up hastily and he saw to
everything. Each of the boats contained kegs of water, arms, ammunition
and food. A second was launched and Stubbs and his crew were lowered
into it. A great wave caught it and carried it upon its crest, and
Robert, watching, expected to see it turn over like the first, but the
mate and the crew managed to restore the balance, and they disappeared
in the darkness, still afloat.

"There, lads," exclaimed the captain, "you see it can be done. Now we'll
go too, and the day will soon come when we'll have a new ship, and then,
ho! once more for the rover's free and gorgeous life!"

The unwounded men raised a faint cheer. The long boat was launched with
infinite care, and Robert lent a hand. The pressure of circumstances
made his feeling of comradeship with these men return. For the time at
least his life was bound up with theirs. Two wounded sailors were
lowered first into the boat.

"Now, Peter, you go," said the captain. "As I told you, I may have a
chance yet to sell you to a plantation, and I must preserve my
property."

Robert slid down the rope. The captain and the others followed, and they
cast loose. They were eight in the boat, three of whom were wounded,
though not badly. The lad looked back at the schooner. He saw a dim
hulk, with the black flag still floating over it, and then she passed
from sight in the darkness and driving storm.

He took up an oar, resolved to do his best in the common struggle for
life, and with the others fought the sea for a long time. The captain
set their course south by west, apparently for some island of which he
knew, and meanwhile the men strove not so much to make distance as to
keep the boat right side up. Often Robert thought they were gone. They
rode dizzily upon high waves, and they sloped at appalling angles, but
always they righted and kept afloat. The water sprayed them continuously
and the wind made it sting like small shot, but that was a trifle to men
in their situation who were straining merely to keep the breath in their
bodies.

After a while--Robert had no idea how long the time had been--the
violence of the wind seemed to abate somewhat, and their immense peril
of sinking decreased. Robert sought an easier position at the oar, and
tried to see something reassuring, but it was still