h on deck.
The party below consisted of Courtenay, Peter and Paul, Billy Pitt, and
five seamen; and a consultation was held as to their proceedings. To
regain the vessel and avenge the death of their shipmates, or to perish
in the attempt, was the determination of the lieutenant. He was aware
that the French had no firearms; and, amply supplied as they were, he
would have cared little for their numbers if once on deck; but how to
get on deck was the problem. To set fire to the vessel, and rush up in
the flames,--to scuttle her,--or to blow her up, and all go down
together, were each proposed and agitated.

Peter's plan was considered as the most feasible. He suggested, that
one half of the cabin table, which was divided in two, should be placed
upon the other, so as to raise it up to the coamings of the
skylight-hatch; on the upper table to place a pound or two of powder,
which, from the ascending principle of explosion, would blow off the
skylight and grating without injuring the vessel below. Then, with
their muskets loaded and bayonets fixed, to jump on the table, and from
thence, if possible, gain the deck. This was agreed to, and the
preparations were well forward, when the report of Jerry's musket was
heard--another succeeded, and they were perplexed. Had the Frenchmen
firearms?--and if so, what could they be firing at? The falling of the
bodies on deck, and the indistinct curses of the Frenchmen, puzzled them
even more. "What can it be?" observed Courtenay.

"I recollect now," said Paul, "as I lay awake I saw young _devil-skin_
pass my bed with a musket--I wondered what it was for."

"Then, probably, he has gained the rigging with it, and is safe," cried
Courtenay, intuitively. "Be quick! Where's the powder? Take that
candle further off."

The train was laid as the muskets continued to be discharged; they
removed from the cabin;--it was fired, and the skylight was blown up,
killing the Frenchman who guarded the hatchway, at the very moment that
the Frenchmen were in the rigging, puzzled with the manoeuvres of
Seymour and the escape of Jerry.

Courtenay and his party rushed into the cabin, mounted the table, and
were on deck before the smoke had cleared away: and the Frenchmen, who
had not had time to descend the rigging, were at their mercy. Mercy
they were not entitled to. They had shown none to the unarmed English,
whom they had wantonly thrown into the sea when they had overpowered
them, an