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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Syd Belton, by George Manville Fenn
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Syd Belton
+       The Boy who would not go to Sea
+
+Author: George Manville Fenn
+
+Illustrator: Gordon Browne
+
+Release Date: May 8, 2007 [EBook #21373]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SYD BELTON ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
+
+
+
+
+Syd Belton; or, The Boy who would not go to Sea, by George Manville
+Fenn.
+
+________________________________________________________________________
+
+The book opens with a domestic scene with the boy Sydney having just
+finished dinner with his father, a Captain in the navy, and his uncle,
+an Admiral.  They are discussing Syd's career, which the two old
+gentlemen hope will be as a naval officer.  Syd, however has other
+ideas: he has been on his rounds with the local doctor, and thinks that
+he might like to be a doctor, too.  The time of the story is in the
+middle of the eighteenth century, but the only real evidence of this is
+the fact of people wearing cocked hats.  Other than that the story might
+fit a hundred years later, though there is a point late in the story
+where the French are the enemy.
+
+There is an episode in which Syd runs away from home, in company with
+the son of his father's gardener, the latter having been his boatswain
+in his naval days.  On his return he realises that he does really want
+to be a naval officer, too.  His father tries to get him an appointment
+as a midshipman with a captain he formerly served with, but was
+rebuffed.  He realises that the present First Sea Lord, the title of the
+Admiral in command of the whole navy, is someone he used to serve with
+in former days, so they go to see this eminent officer.  The outcome is
+that Syd's father is appointed to command the Sirius, and is invited to
+take Syd with him as a midshipman.
+
+From here on we have an excellent and well-told narrative, describing
+Syd's early days in the Navy, and then an episode when he finds himself
+in command of a naval party holding a rock in the Caribbean.
+
+You'll enjoy this story, especially if you make an audiobook of it.
+
+________________________________________________________________________
+
+SYD BELTON; OR, THE BOY WHO WOULD NOT GO TO SEA, BY GEORGE MANVILLE
+FENN.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ONE.
+
+THE BOY WHO WOULD NOT GO TO SEA.
+
+"Here you, Syd, pass the port."
+
+Sydney Belton took hold of the silver decanter-stand and slid it
+carefully along the polished mahogany table towards where Admiral Belton
+sat back in his chair.
+
+"Avast!"
+
+The ruddy-faced old gentleman roared out that adjuration in so
+thunderous a way that the good-looking boy who was passing the decanter
+started and nearly turned it over.
+
+"What's the matter, Tom?" came from the other end of the table, where
+Captain Belton, a sturdy-looking, grey-haired gentleman nearly as ruddy
+as his brother, was the admiral's _vis-a-vis_.
+
+"He's passing the decanter without filling his own glass!" cried the
+admiral.  "Fill up, you young dog, and drink the King's health."
+
+"No, thank you, uncle," said the boy, quietly, "I've had one glass."
+
+"Well, sir, so have I.  Don't I tell you I'm going to propose the King's
+health?"
+
+"I'll drink it in water, uncle."
+
+"What, sir?  Drink the health of his most gracious Majesty in raw water!
+Not if I know it."
+
+"But port wine makes my face burn, uncle, and Doctor Liss says--"
+
+"Confound Doctor Liss, sir!  Hang Doctor Liss, sir!  By George, sir, if
+I were in active service again, and your Doctor Liss were in my
+squadron, I'd have him triced up and give him twelve dozen, sir."
+
+"No, you wouldn't, uncle," said the boy, cracking a walnut, and glancing
+at his father, who was watching him furtively.
+
+"What, sir?  I wouldn't?  Look here, brother Harry, Liss is corrupting
+this boy's mind."
+
+"I don't know about corrupting, Tom," said the captain, smiling, "but he
+certainly does seem to be putting some queer things into his head."
+
+"So it seems.  Teaches him to drink the King's health in water."
+
+"No, he didn't, uncle," said the boy, cracking another walnut.
+
+"Yes, he did, sir.  How dare you contradict me!  Confound you, sir, if I
+had you aboard ship I'd mast-head you."
+
+"No, you wouldn't, uncle," said the boy, dipping a piece of
+freshly-peeled walnut in the salt and crunching it between his teeth.
+
+"What, sir?"
+
+"I say you would not," replied the boy.
+
+"And pray why, you young dog?"
+
+"Because you'd know father wouldn't like it."
+
+Captain Belton laughed and sipped his port, and the admiral blew out his
+cheeks.
+
+"Look here, brother Harry," he cried; "is this my nephew Sydney, or some
+confounded young son of a sea-lawyer?"
+
+"Oh, it's Syd, sure enough," said the captain.
+
+"Then he's grown into an insolent, pragmatical young cock-a-hoop
+upstart; and hang it, I should like to spread-eagle him till he came to
+his senses."
+
+The boy, who was peeling a scrap of walnut, gave his uncle a sidelong
+look and laughed.
+
+"Ah, I would, sir, and no mistake," cried the admiral, fiercely.
+"Harry, you don't half preserve discipline in the ship.  Here, Syd, it's
+time you were off to sea."
+
+The boy took another walnut and crushed it, conscious of the fact that
+his father was watching him intently.
+
+"I don't want to go to sea, uncle," said the boy at last, as he picked
+off the scraps of broken shell from his walnut.
+
+"What?" roared the admiral.  "Here you, sir, say that again."
+
+"I don't want to go to sea, uncle."
+
+"You--don't--want--to go--to sea, sir?"
+
+"No, uncle."
+
+"Well, I am stunned," said the old gentleman, rapidly pouring out and
+tossing off a glass of port.  "Brother Harry, what have you to say to
+this?"
+
+"That it is all nonsense.  The boy does not know his own mind."
+
+"Of course not," cried the admiral, turning sharply upon Sydney, who
+went on picking the skin from his walnut.  "Do you know, sir, that your
+family have been sailors as far back as the days of Elizabeth."
+
+"Yes, uncle," said the boy, coolly.  "I've often heard you say so."
+
+"And that it is your duty, as the last representative of the family, to
+maintain its honour, sir?"
+
+"No, uncle."
+
+"What, sir?" cried the old man, fiercely.
+
+"I'm not fit to be a sailor," continued the boy, quietly enough.
+
+"And pray, why not, Sydney?" said Captain Belton, frowning.
+
+"Because I'm such a coward, father."
+
+"A Belton!" groaned the admiral, "and says he is a coward."
+
+"A boy to be a sailor ought to be fond of the sea."
+
+"Of course, sir," said the captain.
+
+"And I hate it."
+
+"And pray why?" said the admiral, fiercely.
+
+"Because it's so salt," said Syd, busy helping himself to some more of
+the condiment he had named.
+
+"Salt?" cried the admiral.  "Of course it is, and so it ought to be.
+Nonsense!  He's laughing at us, Harry--a dog."
+
+"No, I'm not, uncle; I'm not fit to be a sailor."
+
+"Then, pray, what are you fit for, sir?" cried Captain Belton, angrily.
+
+"I mean to be a doctor!"
+
+"What!" roared the two officers together.
+
+_Crack! crack_!
+
+"Put that walnut and those crackers down, sir!" said the captain,
+sternly.  "I am glad your uncle started this subject, for it was time we
+had an explanation.  Do you know that with his interest at the Admiralty
+and mine you could be entered on board a first-rate man-of-war?"
+
+"Yes, and well looked after, sir," cried the admiral; "so that when you
+had properly gone through your term, and been master's mate long enough,
+your promotion would have been certain."
+
+"Yes, uncle, father has often said so," replied Sydney, reaching for
+another walnut, and taking up the crackers.
+
+"Put that walnut down, sir," cried his father.
+
+Sydney obeyed, and to keep his hands under control thrust them in his
+pockets and leaned back in his chair.
+
+"Well, sir," said his uncle, "does not that make you feel proud?"
+
+"No, uncle."
+
+"What!  Don't you know that you would have a uniform and wear a sword--I
+mean a dirk?"
+
+"Yes, uncle."
+
+"Well, sir?  Why, at your time of life I was mad to have my uniform."
+
+"What for?" said the boy.
+
+"What for, sir?  What for?  Why, to wear, of course."
+
+"I don't want to wear a uniform.  You couldn't climb trees, nor go
+fishing, nor shrimping, nor riding in a uniform."
+
+"No, sir," continued the admiral, after winking and frowning at his
+brother to leave the boy to him, "of course not.  You would be an
+officer and a gentleman then, and wear a cocked hat."
+
+"Ha! ha! ha!"
+
+The boy burst into a hearty fit of laughter, and his father frowned.
+
+"Sydney--" he began.
+
+"No, no, Harry, leave him to me," said the admiral; "I'll talk to him.
+Now, sir," he continued, turning to the boy sternly, "pray what did I
+say to make you start grinning like a confounded young monkey?  I--I--I
+am not accustomed to be laughed at by impertinent boys."
+
+"I was not laughing at you, uncle," said the boy, dragging one hand from
+his pocket and making a lunge at an apple.
+
+"Leave that fruit alone, sir," said the admiral, "and don't tell me a
+confounded lie, sir.  You did laugh at me."
+
+"I did not," said the boy; "and that's not a lie."
+
+"What!" roared the admiral, turning purple.  "How dare you, sir!  To the
+mast-head at once, and stop there till--"
+
+A hearty burst of laughter from his brother and nephew quelled the old
+man's anger.
+
+"Ah, you may laugh at that," he said.  "Force of habit.  But you've got
+to apologise, you young monkey, for what you said."
+
+"I can't apologise for what I did not do," said the boy, stubbornly.
+
+"What, sir?"
+
+"Steady, steady, sir," said the captain.  "He's a confoundedly impudent
+young scamp, but he could not tell a lie."
+
+"But he laughed in my face, Harry?"
+
+"I was laughing at myself, uncle."
+
+"At yourself, sir?"
+
+"Yes, I was thinking what a popinjay I should look in a cocked hat."
+
+"Well, really," said the admiral, "I am beginning to be glad, Harry,
+that I never married and had a son.  I used to be envious about this
+boy, and wanted a share in him.  But a boy who can laugh at a part of
+his Majesty's uniform--well!  Why, you young whipper-snapper, did I ever
+look a--a--a popinjay in my cocked hat?"
+
+"Well, you used to look very rum, uncle."
+
+"Harry, my dear boy," said the admiral, fiercely; "we are old men, and
+this young dog represents us.  May I take him into the library, and give
+him a good caning?"
+
+"No, Tom, certainly not."
+
+"No, of course not, Harry; I beg your pardon.  Now, sir--pass that
+port--and--a--don't fill your own glass.  Port like that, sir, is only
+fit for gentlemen.  And you--you want to be a doctor, eh?"
+
+"Yes, uncle," said the boy, pushing the decanter along the table.
+
+"And pray what for, sir?"
+
+"To do good to people."
+
+"What?  A doctor do good!  Rubbish!  Never did me a bit of good."
+
+"Oh, but they do, uncle."
+
+"Never, sir.  That Liss has pretty well poisoned me over and over
+again."
+
+"Oh, uncle, what a--"
+
+"You say that if you dare, sir," cried the old admiral, bringing his
+hand down bang upon the table, and making the glasses dance.  "It's the
+truth.  Always made my gout worse.  Colchicum--colchicum--colchicum--and
+the pain awful.  Doctors are an absurd new invention, and of no use
+whatever."
+
+"Why, you always have a doctor on board ship."
+
+"Surgeon, you young dog, surgeon.  Doctor!  Bah!  Hang all doctors!  A
+surgeon is of some use in action, cutting, and splicing, and fishing a
+poor fellow's limbs; but a doctor--"
+
+At that moment a rubicund butler opened the dining-room door, and stood
+back for some one to enter.
+
+"Doctor Liss, sir," he said quietly; and a quick, eager-looking little
+man in snuff-coloured coat and long, salt-box-pocketed waistcoat entered
+the room, handing his cocked hat and stick to the butler, and nodding
+pleasantly from one to the other.
+
+"Who was that shouting for the doctor?" he said cheerily, as he rubbed
+his hands; then took out a gold snuff-box, tapped it, opened it, and
+handed it to the captain.
+
+"You, wasn't it, Sir Thomas?  Touch of your old enemy?"
+
+"No," grunted the admiral, "I'm sound as a roach.  Bah!"
+
+"Thankye, Liss," said the captain, taking his pinch, and handing back
+the box; "sit down.  Syd, pass those clean glasses."
+
+The admiral took a pinch, and then the new-comer took his, loudly
+snapped-to the box, and drew out a delicate cambric handkerchief to flap
+off some snuff from his shirt-frill.
+
+As soon as the doctor was comfortably seated the port was passed, and
+then there was silence, Sydney looking from one to the other, and
+wondering what was coming next.
+
+The doctor, too, looked from one to the other and formed his own
+opinion.
+
+"Hullo!" he said.  "In disgrace, Sydney?  What have you been doing,
+sir?"
+
+"Eating walnuts," said the boy, mischievously.
+
+"And defying his father and uncle--a dog!" cried the admiral.  "Here,
+Liss; what do you think he says?"
+
+"Bless me!  I don't know."
+
+"Why, confound him! says he wants to be a doctor."
+
+"Does he?" cried the new-comer, turning to look at Sydney.  "Well, I'm
+not surprised."
+
+"But I am," cried Captain Belton, angrily.
+
+"And I'm astounded," said the admiral.  "A Belton descend to being an
+apothecary."
+
+"Ah!" said the doctor, dryly, as he held his glass up to the light,
+"terrible descent, certainly.  Wants to save life instead of destroying
+it."
+
+"Now, look here, Liss," began the admiral, fiercely.
+
+"No, no, Tom, let me speak," said Captain Belton.  "No quarrelling."
+
+"No, you had better not quarrel," said the doctor, good-humouredly.
+"Make you both ill, and then I shall have you at my mercy."
+
+"Indeed you will not," said the admiral, "for I'll call in old Marchant
+from Lowerport."
+
+"Not you," cried the doctor, laughing; "you dare not.  I'm the only man
+who understands your constitution."
+
+"There, there, there!" cried the captain, "that's enough.  But really,
+sir, it's too bad.  As an old friend I did not think you would lead my
+boy astray."
+
+"I?  Astray?  Nonsense!"
+
+"But you have, sir.  You've taken him out with you on your rounds, and
+the young dog thinks of nothing else but doctoring."
+
+"And pill-boxes and gallipots," said the admiral, fiercely.
+
+"Now, my dear old friends, you are not talking sense," said the doctor,
+quietly.  "Sydney has been my rounds with me a good deal, and he has
+certainly displayed so much interest in all my surgical cases, that if
+he were my boy I should certainly make him a doctor."
+
+"Impossible!" cried the captain.
+
+"Not to be heard of," said Sir Thomas.  "He's going to sea."
+
+Sydney, who had been fidgeting about in his chair, gave a sudden kick
+out with his right leg, and felt something soft as his uncle uttered a
+savage yell, and thrust his chair back from the table.
+
+"I--I beg your pardon, uncle, I did not know that--"
+
+"You did, sir," cried the old man furiously, as he shook his fist at the
+boy.  "You did it maliciously; out of spite, because I want to make a
+man of you.  Bless me, Harry," he continued, "if you don't take that
+young scoundrel out into the hall and thrash him, I'll never darken your
+doors again.  Dear--dear--dear--dear!  Bless my soul!  Ah!"
+
+The poor old admiral had risen, and was limping about when Sydney went
+after him.
+
+"Uncle," he began.
+
+"Bah!" ejaculated the old man, grasping him by the collar.  "Here he is,
+brother Harry; I've got him.  Now then, take him out."
+
+"I'm very sorry, uncle," said Sydney.  "I didn't know it was your gouty
+leg there."
+
+"Then, you did do it on purpose, sir?"
+
+"No, I didn't, uncle.  I wouldn't have been such a coward."
+
+"Of course he wouldn't," said the doctor.  "But there, sir, sit down;
+the pain is gone off now."
+
+"How do you know?" cried the admiral.  "It's as if ten thousand red-hot
+irons were searing it.  Harry, you've spoiled that boy."
+
+"No, I join issue there," said Captain Belton.  "You've indulged him ten
+times more than ever I have, Tom."
+
+"It is not true, brother Harry," said the admiral, limping to his chair.
+
+"Oh yes, it is.  Hasn't your uncle spoiled you, Sydney, far more than I
+have?"
+
+"No, father," replied the boy, quietly, as he helped the old admiral to
+sit down, and placed an ottoman under his injured leg.
+
+"Thankye, boy, thankye.  And you're not so bad as I said; 'tis quite
+true, it's your father's doing."
+
+"I think you've both spoiled me," said Sydney, quietly; and the doctor
+helped himself to another glass of port to hide his mirth.
+
+"Won't do, Liss, you're laughing.  I can see you," said the admiral.
+"That's just what you doctors enjoy, seeing other people suffer, so that
+you may laugh and grow fat."
+
+"Oh, I was not laughing at your pain," said the doctor, quietly, "but at
+Sydney's judgment.  He is quite right, you do both spoil him."
+
+"What?"
+
+"He has three times as much money to spend as is right, and I wonder he
+does not waste it more.  Well, Syd, my boy, so they will not let you be
+a doctor?"
+
+Sydney frowned, and cracked a walnut till the shell and nut were all
+crushed together.
+
+"And so you are to make up your mind to go to sea?"
+
+"Yes," said the admiral, emphatically.
+
+"Certainly," said Captain Belton; and, as soon after the conversation
+turned into political matters, Sydney quietly left his chair, strolled
+to the window, and stood gazing out at the estuary upon which the
+captain's house looked down.
+
+It was a glorious view.  The long stretch of water was dappled with
+orange and gold; and here and there the great men-of-war were lying at
+anchor, some waiting their commanders; others, whose sea days were past,
+waiting patiently for their end, sent along dark shadows behind them.
+Here and there fishing-boats with tawny sails were putting out to sea
+for the night's fishing; and as Sydney's eyes wandered, a frown settled
+upon his forehead, and he stepped out through the open window into the
+garden.
+
+"Bother the old sea!" he said, petulantly.  "It's always sea, sea, sea,
+from morning till night.  I don't want to go, and I won't."
+
+As he spoke he passed under an apple tree, one of whose fruit, missed in
+the gathering a month before, had dropped, and picking it up, the boy
+relieved his feelings by throwing it with all his might across the
+garden.
+
+The effect was as sudden as that produced by his kick; for there was a
+shout and sound of feet rapidly approaching, and a red-faced boy of
+about his own age came into sight, hatless and breathless, panting,
+wild-eyed, and with fists clenched ready for assault.
+
+"Who threw--Oh, it was you, was it, Master Sydney?  You coward!"
+
+"Who's a coward?" cried Sydney, hotly.
+
+"You are.  You throwed that apple and hit me, 'cause you knowed I
+dursen't hit you again."
+
+"No, I didn't."
+
+"Yes, you did, and you are a coward."
+
+"No, I'm not a coward."
+
+"Yes, you are.  If I hit you, I know what you'd do--go and tell your
+father, and get me sent away."
+
+"There, then!  Does that feel like a coward's blow?--or that?--or that?"
+
+Three sharp cuffs in the chest illustrated Sydney's words, two of which
+the boy bore, flinching at each; but rising beyond endurance by the
+third, he retaliated with one so well planted that Sydney went down in a
+sitting position, but in so elastic a fashion that he was up again on
+the instant, and flew at the giver of the blow.
+
+Then for five minutes there was a sharp encounter, with its
+accompaniments of hard breathing, muttering, dull sounds of blows and
+scuffling feet, till a broad-shouldered, red-faced man in a serge apron
+came down upon them at a trot, and securing each by the shoulder held
+them apart.
+
+"Now then," he growled, "what's this here?"
+
+"Pan hit me, and I'm dressing him down," panted Sydney.  "Here, let go,
+Barney."
+
+"Master Syd hit me first, father," panted the red-faced boy.
+
+"Howld your tongue, warmint, will you," said the man in a deep growl.
+"Want to have me chucked overboard, and lose my bit o' pension.  You're
+allus a-going at your pastors and masters."
+
+"Hit me first," remonstrated the boy, as the new-comer gave him a shake.
+
+"Well, what o' that, you ungrateful young porpuss!  Hasn't the cap'n hit
+me lots o' times and chucked things at me?  You never see me flyin' in
+his face."
+
+"Chucked a big apple at me first," cried the boy in an ill-used tone.
+
+"Sarve you right too.  Has he hurt you much, Master Sydney?"
+
+"No, Barney; not a bit.  There, I was wrong.  I didn't know he was there
+when I threw the apple.  I only did it because I felt vicious."
+
+"Hear that, you young sarpint?" cried the square-shouldered man.
+
+"Yes, father."
+
+"Then just you recollect.  If the young skipper feels wicious, he's a
+right to chuck apples.  Why, it's rank mutiny hitting him again."
+
+"Hit me first," grumbled the boy.
+
+"Ay, and I'll hit you first.  Why, if I'd been board ship again, instead
+of being a pensioner and keeping this here garden in order for the
+skipper, I should have put my pipe to my mouth, and--What say, Master
+Syd?"
+
+"Don't say any more about it.  I'd no business to hit Pan, and I'm sorry
+I did now."
+
+"Well, sir, I don't know 'bout not having no business, 'cause you see
+you're the skipper's son, and nothing does a boy so much good as a
+leathering; but if you're sorry for it, there's an end on it.
+Pan-a-mar, my lad, beg Master Sydney's pardon."
+
+"He hit me first," grumbled the boy.
+
+"Do you want me to give you a good rope's-ending, my sonny?" growled the
+man; "'cause if you do, just you say that 'ere agen."
+
+The red-faced boy uttered a smothered growl, and was silent.
+
+"Too young to understand discipline yet, Master Sydney," said the man.
+"And so you felt wicious, did you?  What about?"
+
+"They've been at me again about going to sea, Barney."
+
+"And you don't want to go, my lad?"
+
+"No; and I won't go."
+
+"Hear that, Pan, my lad?"
+
+The boy nodded and drew down the corner of his lips, with the effect
+that Sydney made a threatening gesture.
+
+"No, I'm not afraid, Pan," he cried fiercely; "but I don't want to go,
+and I won't."
+
+The broad-shouldered man shook his head mournfully, and taking out a
+steel tobacco-box he opened it and cut off a piece of black, pressed
+weed, to transfer to his cheek, as he again shook his head sadly.
+
+"I'm sorry to hear that, Master Sydney," he said.
+
+"Why?"
+
+"'Cause it's agen nature.  I'm sixty-two now, and from the time I was a
+little shaver right up to now I never heerd a well-grown, strong,
+good-looking young chap say he didn't want to go to sea."
+
+"Ah, well, Barney, you've heard one now."
+
+"Ay, ay! and mighty sorry too, sir.  Why, there have been times when
+I've said to myself, `Maybe when the young master gets his promotion and
+a ship of his own, he'll come and say to me, Now then, Barney, now's
+your time to get rid o' the rust; I'll get you painted and scraped, and
+you shall come to sea with me.'"
+
+"You, Barney?  You are too old now.  What would you be then?"
+
+"Old!  Old!  Get out!  I don't call myself old by a long way, Master
+Syd; and if it hadn't been for the captain laying up I should ha' been
+at sea now.  But you'll think better on it, sir; you'll go."
+
+"What, to sea, Barney?"
+
+"Ay, sir."
+
+"No; I mean to be a doctor."
+
+"Then I says it again as I said it afore, Master Syd, there's something
+the matter with you."
+
+"Matter?  Nonsense!  What do you mean?"
+
+"Why, what you say sounds so gal-ish and soft, it makes me think as you
+must have ketched something going out with the doctor."
+
+"What rubbish, Barney!"
+
+"But you going to be a doctor!" cried the old sailor, rubbing his nose
+with a great gnarled finger.  "You, who might be an admiral and command
+a squadron: no, sir, it won't do."
+
+"It will have to do, Barney."
+
+"Well, sir, it mought and it moughtn't; but it strikes me as you've got
+something coming on, sir, as is a weakening your head--measles, or
+fever, or such-like--or you wouldn't talk as you do about the Ryle
+Navee."
+
+"I talk about it as I do because I don't want to go to sea."
+
+"But it's a flying in the face of the skipper and the admiral.  Bobstays
+and chocks!  I wish I was your age and got the chance o' going instead
+o' being always ashore here plarntin' the cabbages and pulling up the
+weeds."
+
+"Then you don't like being a gardener, Barney?"
+
+"I 'ates it, sir."
+
+"And so do I hate being a sailor.  There!"
+
+"But it's so onnat'ral, sir.  Here's your father been a sailor, same as
+I've been a sailor, and I've drilled up Pan-a-mar o' purpose to be
+useful to you in the same ship.  Why, it's like wasting a season in the
+garden.  I meant him to be your Jack factotum, as the skipper used to
+call it, and you never heard him say he didn't want to go to sea."
+
+"You said you'd rope's-end me if I did," grumbled the red-faced boy.
+
+"And so I will, you young swab," roared the gardener.  "Why, you
+onnat'ral young galley-dabber, are you going to turn up your ugly pig's
+nose at your father's purfession?"
+
+"Pan doesn't like the sea any more than I do," cried Sydney; "and I say
+it's a shame to force boys to be what they don't like."
+
+"Well, this beats all," cried the gardener, helping himself to a fresh
+piece of tobacco.  "What the world's coming to next, I dunnow.  Why, if
+the King, bless him! know'd o' this, it would break his heart."
+
+"Syd!  Ahoy there!" came from the dining-room window.
+
+"Aho--"
+
+Sydney was about to reply with a hearty sea-going _Ahoy_! but he altered
+his mind and cried--
+
+"Yes, father; I'm coming."
+
+This was followed by a savage slap on the leg given by the ex-boatswain,
+who had settled down with his master the captain at The Heronry,
+Southbayton.
+
+"Just like a loblolly boy," he growled.  "You, Pan, if you was to answer
+a hail like that I'd--Stop; come here."
+
+"Yes, father, I'm coming," said the red-faced boy, with a grin; and then
+he dodged while the old boatswain made a blow at his head with open
+hand.
+
+"Here, I'll speak to the skipper at once about you, youngster.  Doing
+the knives and boots and helping over the weeds is spyling your morals."
+
+"Speak--what about, father?"
+
+"Speak?  What about?  Why, you swab, do you think I had you chrissen
+Pan-a-mar, arter a glorious naval victory, o' purpose to have you grow
+up into a 'long-shore lubber?  There, get indoors.  'Fore you're many
+hours older I'll have you afloat."
+
+Pan went slowly up to the house, followed by his father, who walked
+along the gravel path with his legs wide apart, as if he expected the
+ground to heave up; while Sydney went round to the front of the house,
+and entered by the dining-room window, where his father, uncle, and the
+doctor were still seated at the table.
+
+"Why, Syd, lad, we did not see you go," said his father; "come and sit
+down."
+
+The boy obeyed, looking furtively from one to the other, as if he knew
+instinctively that something particular was coming.
+
+"Ahem!"  The admiral gave vent to a tremendous forced cough.
+
+"No, Tom, I'll tell him," said Captain Belton.  "Look here, Syd, my boy,
+at your time of life lads do not know what is best for them, so it is
+the duty of their fathers to decide."
+
+"Is it, father?"
+
+"Of course it is, sir," growled the admiral, and Doctor Liss wrinkled up
+his forehead and looked attentively on.
+
+"Now look here, sir.  Your uncle has just heard an old friend of his,
+Captain Dashleigh--"
+
+"Known him from a boy," said the admiral.
+
+"Has been appointed to the _Juno_, one of our finest three-deckers, and
+he is going to ask him to take you as one of his midshipmen."
+
+"Uncle Tom always said that a boy should commence life either in a sloop
+of war or a smart frigate," said Syd, sharply.
+
+"If there's one handy," growled the admiral.  "_Juno's_ a ship to be
+proud of."
+
+"So, thank your uncle for his promise to exert his interest, and let's
+have no more nonsense."
+
+"But I want to be a doctor, father," said Syd, looking hard at the
+visitor.
+
+_Crash_!
+
+The glasses danced as the admiral brought his hand down heavily.
+
+"No, no, Tom," cried the captain, testily; "I can manage the helm."
+
+"But, Doctor Liss!" said the boy, appealingly.
+
+"Don't appeal to me, my boy," said the doctor, gravely.  "You know your
+father's and your uncle's wish.  It is your duty to obey."
+
+"Oh!" ejaculated Sydney, in a tone of voice which seemed to say, "I did
+think you would side with me."
+
+The doctor took a pinch of snuff.
+
+"You see, Syd," continued the captain, "your uncle has no son, and I
+have only one to keep up the honour of our family.  You will join your
+ship with the best of prospects, and I hope you will be a credit to us
+both."
+
+Sydney said nothing, but took another walnut, and cracked it viciously,
+as if it was the head of a savage enemy.
+
+That night he lay tumbling and unable to sleep, his brow knit and his
+teeth set, feeling as obstinate as a boy can feel who has not been
+allowed to have his own way.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWO.
+
+The next morning Sydney Belton rose in excellent time, but not from a
+desire to keep good hours.  He could not sleep well, so he dressed and
+went out, to find it was only on the stroke of six.
+
+As he reached the garden, there was his self-constituted enemy
+stretching out before him, far as eye could reach, and sparkling
+gloriously in the morning sunshine.
+
+"Bother the sea!" muttered the boy, scowling.  "Wish it was all dry
+land."
+
+"What cheer, lad!  Mornin', mornin'.  Don't she look lovely, eh?"
+
+"Morning, Barney," said the boy, turning to see that the old boatswain
+had come to work with a scythe over his shoulder.  "What looks lovely
+this morning?"
+
+"Eh?  Why, the sea, of course.  Wish I was afloat, 'stead of having to
+shave this lawn, like a wholesale barber.  Got any noos?"
+
+"Yes, Barney," said the boy, bitterly; "I'm to go to sea."
+
+"Hurray!" cried the old boatswain, rubbing his scythe-blade with the
+stone rubber, and bringing forth a musical sound.
+
+"You're glad of it, then?"
+
+"Course I am, my lad.  Be the making on you.  Wish I was coming too."
+
+"Bah!" ejaculated Sydney, and he left the old boatswain to commence the
+toilet of the dewy lawn, while in a desultory way, for the sake of doing
+something to fill up the time till breakfast, he strolled round to the
+back, where a loud whistling attracted his attention.
+
+The sound came from an outhouse, toward which the boy directed his
+steps.
+
+"Cleaning the knives, I suppose," said Sydney to himself, and going to
+the door he looked in.
+
+The tray of knives was there waiting to be cleaned, and the board and
+bath-brick were on a bench, but the red-faced boy was otherwise engaged.
+
+He was kneeling down with a rough, curly-haired retriever dog sitting up
+before him, with paws drooped and nose rigid, while Pan was carefully
+balancing a knife across the pointed nose aforesaid.
+
+Pan was so busily employed that he did not hear the step, and the first
+notification he had of another's presence was given by the dog, who
+raised his muzzle suddenly and uttered a loud and piteous whine directed
+at Sydney--the dog's cry seeming to say, "Do make him leave off."
+
+The glance the boatswain's son gave made him spring at the board, snatch
+up a couple of the implements, and begin to rub them to and fro
+furiously, while the dog, in high glee at being freed from an arduous
+task, began to leap about, barking loudly, and making dashes at his
+young master's legs.
+
+"Poor old Don--there!" cried Sydney, patting the dog's ears.  "He don't
+like discipline, then.  Well, Pan, when are you going to sea?"
+
+"Not never," said the boy, shortly.
+
+"Yes, you are.  Your father said he should send you."
+
+"If he does I shall run away, so there," cried the boy.
+
+Sydney turned away, and walked through the garden, his head bent, his
+brow wrinkled, and his mind so busily occupied, that he hardly heeded
+which way he went.
+
+"If his father sends him he shall run away."
+
+Those words kept on repeating themselves in Sydney's brain like some
+jingle, and he found himself thinking of them more and more as he passed
+through the gate, and went along the road that late autumn morning,
+kicking up the dead leaves which lay clustering beneath the trees.
+
+"If his father sends him to sea he shall run away," said Sydney to
+himself; and then he thought of how Pan Strake would be free, and have
+no more boots and shoes or knives to clean, and not have to go into the
+garden to weed the paths.
+
+Then by a natural course he found himself thinking that if he, Sydney
+Belton, were to leave home, he would escape being sent to sea--at all
+events back to school--and he too would be free.
+
+With a boy's wilful obstinacy, he carefully drew a veil over all the
+good, and dragged out into the mental light all that he looked upon as
+bad in his every-day life, satisfied himself that he was ill-used, and
+wished that he had had a mother living to, as he called it, take his
+part.
+
+"I wonder what running away would be like?" he thought.  "There would be
+no Uncle Tom to come and bully and bother me, and father wouldn't be
+there to take his side against me.  I wonder what one could do if one
+ran away?"
+
+"Morning!"
+
+Sydney started, for he had been so intent upon his thoughts that he had
+not heard the regular trot, trot of a plump cob, nor the grinding of
+wheels, and he looked up to see that it was Doctor Liss who had suddenly
+drawn rein in the road.
+
+"Going for a walk, Syd?"
+
+"Yes; but--I--Where are you going, doctor?"
+
+"Into the town.  Just been called up.  Poor fellow injured in the docks
+last night."
+
+"Take me with you."
+
+"What?" cried the doctor, smiling down in the eager face before him.
+"Didn't I get scolded enough last night, you young dog, for leading you
+astray?"
+
+"Oh, but father didn't mean it.  Do take me.  Is he much hurt?"
+
+"Broken leg, I hear.  No, no.  Go home to breakfast.  Ck!  Sally.  Good
+morning."
+
+The doctor touched the cob as he nodded to Sydney, and the wheels of the
+chaise began to turn, but with a bound the boy was out in the road, and
+hanging on to the back.
+
+"No, no, Doctor Liss, don't leave me behind.  I do so want to go, and
+there's plenty of time for me to get back to breakfast."
+
+"But Sir Thomas will declare I am leading you into the evil paths of
+medicine and surgery."
+
+"Uncle won't know.  Do pull up; let me come."
+
+"Well," said the doctor, smiling grimly, "I don't see that it can do you
+any harm, Syd.  Here, jump in."
+
+There was no need for a second consent.  Almost before the horse could
+be stopped the boy had leaped lightly in, and with his face bright and
+eager once more, and the dark misty notions upon which he had been
+brooding gone clean away, he began chatting merrily to his old friend,
+whose rounds he had often gone.
+
+"Yes, yes, Syd, that's all very well," said the doctor, making his
+whip-lash whistle through the air, "but you don't know what a doctor's
+life is.  All very well driving here on a bright autumn morning to get
+an appetite for breakfast, but look at the long dark dismal rides I have
+at all times in the winter."
+
+"Well, they can't be half so bad as keeping a watch in a storm right out
+at sea.  Why, I've heard both father and Uncle Tom say that it's awful
+sometimes."
+
+"Only sometimes, Syd."
+
+"Well, I can't help it.  I hate it, and I won't go."
+
+"Must, my boy, must.  Take it like a dose of my very particular.  You
+know, Syd," said the doctor, nudging the boy with his elbow; "that rich
+thick morning draught I gave you after a fever."
+
+"Oh, I say, don't," cried Sydney, with a wry face and a shudder; "it's
+horrid.  I declare, when I'm a doctor, I'll never give any one such
+stuff."
+
+"No, Syd, you'll be a captain, and the physic for your patients will be
+cat-o'-nine-tails."
+
+Sydney frowned, and as they neared the busy town, with its little forest
+of masts rising beyond the houses, Doctor Liss glanced sideways at the
+boy's gloomy and thoughtful countenance.
+
+"Why, Syd," he said at last merrily, "you look as gloomy as if you had
+been pressed.  Come, my lad, take your medicine, and then you can have
+that sweet afterwards that we call duty."
+
+Sydney made no reply, but his face did not brighten, for duty seemed to
+him then a nauseous bitter.
+
+"Doctor Liss," he said, just as they reached the docks, down one of
+whose side lanes the patient lay, "if I make up my mind to be a
+doctor--"
+
+"You can't, Syd.  You are too young to have one yet.  A man's mind is as
+strong as if it had bone and muscle.  Yours is only like jelly."
+
+Syd was silent again for a minute.  Then he began once more--
+
+"If I determined to be a doctor, and wouldn't be anything else, would
+you teach me?"
+
+"No, certainly not."
+
+"Then I'd teach myself," cried Syd, fiercely.
+
+"Oh, indeed!  Humph!  I retract my words about your young mind being
+jelly.  I see there is some substance in it growing already.  But no,
+Syd, you are not going to be a doctor; and here we are."
+
+He drew up at a cottage door, where a couple of rough-looking men were
+waiting about, one of whom held the horse while the doctor descended,
+and Syd followed into the room, where a poor fellow lay in great agony
+with a badly fractured leg.
+
+This was reduced, Syd looking on, and handing the doctor splints and
+bandages as they were required.  After this the pair re-entered the gig,
+and drove back toward the Heronry.
+
+"Just a quarter to nine, Syd.  You'll be back in time for breakfast."
+
+"I think I could set a broken leg now," said Syd, whose thoughts were
+still at the cottage.
+
+"Bless the boy!" exclaimed the doctor.  "Take one off, I suppose, if it
+were wanted?"
+
+"No," said Syd, gravely, "I shouldn't feel enough confidence to do
+that."
+
+"I should think not, indeed," muttered the doctor, as he gave a sidelong
+look at his companion.  "Why, you morbid young rascal, you ought to be
+thinking of games and outdoor sports instead of such things as this.
+Here we are.  Ready for your breakfast?"
+
+"Yes, I am getting hungry," said Syd.  "How long will those bones be
+growing together again?"
+
+"Confound you--young dog!  Go and pick grilled chicken bones.  I'll
+never take you out with me again.  Jump out.  Good-bye, sailor."
+
+The doctor nodded and drove off, while Syd walked slowly up to the
+house, and entered the dining-room just as his father and uncle came
+down, punctual to the moment.
+
+"Ah, Syd," said his father; "you are first."
+
+"Morning, boy, morning," cried his uncle.  "Been for a walk on deck?"
+
+"No, uncle; I've been for a drive."
+
+"Drive!  Drive!" said his father.  "Who with?"
+
+"Doctor Liss, father."
+
+_Bang_!
+
+Sir Thomas's hand made the coffee-cups rattle this time, as he said
+sharply--
+
+"Harry, my lad, if I were you I should take this spark up to town and
+see Dashleigh at once.  I'll go with you."
+
+"Very well.  And he can be measured for his kit at the same time, eh?"
+
+"Of course.  Mind the tailor makes his clothes big enough, for as soon
+as he gets to sea he'll grow like a twig."
+
+Syd sat stirring his coffee, and taking great bites out of his bread and
+butter, as the words of Pan came back to him--"If he does I shall run
+away, so there!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THREE.
+
+There was something tempting about that idea of being measured for a
+uniform, though Syd declared to himself he hated it.  All the same,
+though, he went down the garden to where Barney was digging that
+morning, and after a little beating about the bush, asked him a question
+he could have answered himself, from familiarity with his father's and
+uncle's garb.
+
+"I say, Barney, what's a captain's uniform like?"
+
+"Uniform, my lad?" said the old boatswain, seizing the opportunity to
+rest his foot on his spade, and began rubbing the small of his back, or
+rather what is so called, for Barney had no small to his back, being
+square-shaped like a short log.  "Well, it's bloo coat, and white
+weskutt and breeches, and gold lace and cocked hat, and two gold swabs
+on the shoulders."
+
+"And what's a lieutenant's like?"
+
+"Oh, pooty much the same, lad, only he's on'y got one swab on 'stead o'
+two.  But what's the good o' your asking?--you've seen 'em often enough
+in Southbayton."
+
+"Oh, but I never took any notice.  What's a midshipman's like?"
+
+"Bloo, my lad, and a bit o' white on the collar."
+
+"And a cocked hat?"
+
+"Oh yes, a cocked hat--a small one, you know."
+
+"And a sword, Barney?"
+
+"Well, as to a sword, lad," said the old sailor, wiping a brown corner
+of his mouth; "it arn't right to call such a tooth-pick of a thing a
+sword.  Sort of a young sword as you may say, on'y it never grows no
+bigger, and him as wears it does.  Dirks, they calls 'em, middies'
+dirks."
+
+"A uniform and a sword," said Sydney to himself.  "A blue uniform with
+white on the collar, and a cocked hat and a sword!"
+
+It was very tempting, and the boy went on down by the side of the lake,
+beyond which were the great trees, with the ragged nests of the tall
+birds which gave the name to the captain's residence, where he had
+settled to end his days well in view of the sea.
+
+Here where the water was smooth as glass Sydney stood leaning over,
+holding on by a bough, and gazing at his foreshortened image, as in
+imagination he dressed himself in the blue uniform, buckled on his dirk,
+and put on his cocked hat.
+
+It was very tempting, but disinclination mastered vanity, and he turned
+away to go back toward the house.
+
+"I wonder whether Pan means it," he said to himself.  "Suppose we went
+together to seek our fortunes; he could be my servant, and father and
+Uncle Tom would forgive me if I came back rich."
+
+But somehow in a misty way as he walked up to the back of the house,
+half thinking that he would sound the boy, it hardly seemed to be the
+way to seek a fortune to start off with a servant.
+
+He had nearly reached the yard when a door was thrown open, and the
+object of his search rushed out, followed by a shower of words and
+shoes, which latter came pattering out into the yard as a shrill voice
+cried--
+
+"A nasty, lazy, good-for-nothing young scamp--always playing with that
+dog instead of doing your work.  Not half clean--not fit to be seen."
+
+Syd drew back, thinking to himself that Pan could not be much happier
+than he was himself with the red-faced cook, who ruled over all the
+servants, to play tyrant to the boy as well.
+
+"Now what could two lads do if they went right away?" mused Syd.  "We
+couldn't go abroad without going to sea.  I don't think I want to be a
+soldier, and we're not big enough if I did.  I know--we'd go to London.
+People seek their fortunes there."
+
+He seated himself beneath the walnut tree to think it out, but somehow
+the idea of running away did not seem bright.  It was less than a
+hundred miles to London by the coach-road, and if they walked all the
+way it did not seem likely that they would have any adventures.
+
+Syd felt in despair, for life seemed as if it must be a terribly dull
+place without adventures.
+
+He thought he would not run away for two reasons.  One that it would
+look cowardly; the other that it did not look tempting.
+
+"There does not seem any chance of meeting with adventures unless you go
+to sea," he said to himself.  "I wish there was no sea in the world."
+
+A loud voice from the other end of the garden, followed by another, took
+his attention.
+
+"Poor old Pan catching it again," mused Syd.  "Everybody seems to scold
+him."
+
+The dull sound of a blow, a howl, and then a rushing noise explained by
+the appearance of Panama Strake, who was dashing helter-skelter across
+the garden, as regardless of flower-bed and tree as a young colt that
+had broken through a hedge.
+
+"Hi!  Pan, where are you going?" cried Syd.
+
+The boy glanced once in his direction, but did not stop running on as
+hard as he could go for the front entrance, and directly after the gate
+was heard to bang.
+
+"Some one must have hit him," thought Syd.  "Poor old Pan, he's always
+in trouble.  Why, I kicked him last week," he added remorsefully.
+
+"Seen my boy Pan, Master Syd?" said a hoarse voice.
+
+"Yes; he came running by here like a wild bull.  Have you been hitting
+him?"
+
+"Hitting of him?" growled the ex-boatswain; "on'y just wish I'd had a
+rope's-end 'stead o' this here," and he held up the handle of the rake
+he had been using.  "On'y time to give him one tap and he was gone."
+
+"Enough to make him go.  What was the matter, Barney?"
+
+"Heverythink, Master Syd.  That there boy's gettin' worse than you."
+
+"Oh! is he?"
+
+"Growlin' and grumblin' at any mortal thing.  Won't do his work, and
+says he won't go to sea, just the same as you do; and now he's been
+sarcing the cook."
+
+"For saying the boots and shoes were not clean."
+
+"How do you know, Master Syd?"
+
+"I saw her throwing them at him.  You'd no business to hit him with that
+rake shaft."
+
+"What!  No business to hit him?  Why, he's my own boy, arn't he?  All
+right then, Master Syd; there's an old wagon rope in the shed, I'll lay
+up a bit o' that--hard; and on'y just wait till he comes back, that's
+all.  Won't be a sailor, won't he!  I'll let him see.  If he won't be
+able to write AB at the end of his name 'fore he's one-and-twenty my
+name arn't Barnaby Strake."
+
+The old boatswain went off growling; and in the lowest of low spirits,
+Syd went indoors, to make his way to the library, shut himself in, and
+begin taking down the books from the dusty shelves, seeking for one
+which dealt with adventures.
+
+There was no lack of them, but somehow or another all seemed to have the
+smack of the salt sea.  Now and then he came upon some land adventures,
+but it was always preceded by a voyage to the place; and at last he
+threw a book down peevishly.
+
+"Any one would think the world was all sea," he grumbled; "that's the
+worst of being born on an island."
+
+He started from his seat, for the handle of the door rattled, and his
+father and uncle entered the library.
+
+"Oh, you're here, sir!" cried Captain Belton.  "That's right.  Your
+uncle and I have been talking about you."
+
+"Laying down your lines, Syd, so as to turn you out a smart craft."
+
+"Yes," said Captain Belton, merrily.  "We've settled about your hull,
+Syd; and to-morrow morning we're going to take you up to town, and if
+all turns out right--"
+
+"Oh, that's all right," said Sir Thomas.  "Dashleigh would do anything
+for me."
+
+"If his complement is not made up."
+
+"And if it is.  Hang it, Harry; you can always squeeze another boy into
+a seventy-gun ship."
+
+"Well, I suppose it will be all right," said the captain; "and if it is
+we'll get you rigged."
+
+"Yes, and if you'll be a good lad, and try and learn your profession,
+I'll make you a present of your outfit, Syd.  The best that can be had,"
+said Sir Thomas.
+
+"And I'd give you a gold watch," said the captain, "only you'd lose it,
+or get it stolen or broken before you had been to sea a month.  There,
+my boy, no objections.  It's all settled for you, and we want to see you
+a post-captain before we go into the locker."
+
+"Yes, and bring in a few good Spanish prizes, sir.  It'll be all right,
+brother Harry.  He thinks he don't like the sea, but he does.  Now then,
+you dog, why don't you come and shake hands?"
+
+"Because I don't want to go, uncle."
+
+"What, you dog!  Yah!  Get out.  I don't believe it."
+
+"Go and shake hands with your uncle, Syd," said the captain, sternly.
+
+The boy walked across to where the admiral was seated on the arm of one
+of the great easy-chairs, and held out his hand.
+
+"Here, what's this?" cried the bluff, choleric old sailor.  "Not a boy's
+hand, is it.  Feels like the tail of a codfish.  Shake hands like a man,
+you dog.  Ah, that's better.  There, cheer up; you'll soon get used to
+the sea and love it.  You won't be happy ashore after your first
+voyage."
+
+"Want any money, Syd?" said the captain.
+
+"No, thankye, father," said the boy, gloomily.
+
+"What!" roared the admiral, laboriously thrusting his hand into his
+breeches pocket and dragging it out again.  "Don't believe it.  A boy
+who don't want money is a monster, not fit to be trusted with it.  Here
+you are, boy.  Five guineas.  Don't fool it away, but buy anything with
+it you like."--A strange contradiction, by the way, though the old
+admiral did not notice it.--"Put it in your pocket, and--Pst!  Syd," he
+whispered, "whenever you want any more, write to me.  Don't bother the
+dad.  Our secret, eh, you dog?"
+
+"What's that?" cried the captain.
+
+"Mind your own business, sir," cried the admiral, with mock rage.
+"Private instructions to our young officer.  There, be off, Syd, before
+he begins to pump."
+
+The boy gladly escaped from the library, to dash up into his own room,
+and fling the money into a corner with a demonstration of rage, before
+sitting down, resting his chin upon his doubled fists, and staring
+straight before him.
+
+"It's all over," he said at last.  "I wanted to be a gentleman, and do
+what was right; but--Yes, it's all over now."
+
+Just at the same time Captain Belton was speaking to his brother in the
+library.
+
+"I'm sorry the boy took it like that, Tom," he said.  "I don't like his
+sulky manner."
+
+"Bah! only a boy," cried the admiral.  "Chuffy because he can't have his
+own way.  Wait till he gets his cocked hat and his dirk."
+
+The old man chuckled and wiped his eyes.
+
+"I haven't forgotten the sensation yet, Harry.  You remember too?"
+
+"Oh yes, I remember," said the captain, thoughtfully.
+
+"Of course you do.  I say, what a pair of young gamecocks we were.  Why,
+I can remember now flourishing the tooth-pick about, with its blade half
+blue steel and a lion's head on the hilt.  Never you mind about Syd; the
+uniform will set him right."
+
+"I hope so."
+
+"Hope so.  Don't I tell you it will!  I like the boy; plenty of
+downright British courage in him.  Isn't afraid of either of us.  Egad,
+I like him, Harry; and he'll turn out a big man."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOUR.
+
+The rest of that day passed gloomily for Sydney, who was in the garden
+just before dinner, when Barney came up to him.
+
+"Seen him, Master Sydney?" he said gloomily.
+
+"Seen who?  My father?"
+
+"No, my boy, Panama.  Strikes me he's cut and run, and when the skipper
+hears on it there'll be no end of a row."
+
+"Oh, nonsense!  He's hiding in the lofts, or one of the outhouses,
+Barney."
+
+"No, my lad, I've hunted 'em all over with a hay-fork."
+
+"And of course you didn't find him.  If he saw you coming with a
+two-pronged fork what would he think?"
+
+"But I wasn't going to job on him with it, Master Syd."
+
+"How was he to know that, Barney?"
+
+"'Cause I'm allus such a good father to him."
+
+"And hit him with the rake-handle only this morning."
+
+"Well, that would only loosen his skin a bit, and give him room to grow.
+Do him good."
+
+"Don't see it, Barney.  Wouldn't do me any good, only make me wild."
+
+"But you don't think he's cut and run, do you, lad?"
+
+"I dare say he has, but he'll soon come back."
+
+"Only let me get hold of him then."
+
+"If you touch him when he does, I'll tell my father and Sir Thomas you
+ill-use him."
+
+"What a shame!  Master Syd, you shouldn't.  But you do think he'll come
+back, sir?"
+
+"Why, of course."
+
+"That's right.  I want him to go along o' you."
+
+"Along with me?"
+
+"Of course.  I heared the skipper was going to take you up to town
+to-morrow to see your new captain."
+
+"Oh!" ejaculated Syd; and he turned sharp round and ran into the house,
+where he was soon after seated at table with his uncle and father,
+feeling that the servants were watching him, and expecting every moment
+to hear some allusion to the next day's journey.
+
+But though no word of the kind was said, Syd cracked no walnuts that
+night, but sat gloomily over the dessert till his uncle filled his
+glass, called upon him to pass the port to his father, and then in a
+loud voice said--
+
+"Here's health and success to Sydney Belton--middy, master's mate,
+lieutenant, commander, post--captain, admiral."
+
+"Hear! hear!" cried Captain Belton; and Sydney sat feeling more guilty
+than ever he had felt in his life.
+
+For his brain was full of thoughts that he dared not have laid bare, and
+his inclination was trying to drag down the balance in which he felt
+that he hung.
+
+As he sat there holding on tightly by the nut-crackers that he had not
+used, he felt as if he should have to answer all manner of questions
+directly, and be put through a terrible ordeal; but to his intense
+relief, the conversation turned upon an expedition to Portobello, and
+the way in which certain ships had been handled, the unfortunate
+officers in command not having done their duty to the satisfaction of
+the admiral.  And as this argument seemed to grow more exciting the boy
+softly slipped from his chair and went out again to his place of
+meditation--the garden.
+
+"Shall I--shan't I?" he said to himself.  Should he make a bold dash,
+and go off like heroes he had read of before, seeking his fortune
+anywhere?
+
+He was quite ready to do this, but in a misty way it seemed to him that
+there would be no fortune to be found; and in addition, it would be
+going in direct opposition to his father's and uncle's wishes, and they
+would never forgive him.
+
+"No," he said, as he walked up and down the broad walk nearest the road,
+"I must give up and go to sea."
+
+But even as he said this softly, he felt so much on the balance, that he
+knew that a very little would send him away.
+
+That very little came unexpectedly, for as he walked on down the garden
+in the darkness, where the short sturdy oak-trees sent their branches
+over the path on one side, and overhung the road on the other, a voice
+whispered his name--
+
+"Master Syd!"
+
+"Yes.  What is it?"
+
+"Hush!  Don't make such a row, or they'll hear you."
+
+"Who is it--Pan?"
+
+"Yes, Master Syd."
+
+"Where are you?"
+
+"Sittin' straddlin' on this here big bough."
+
+"You've come back then, sir.  Your father thought you had run away,"
+said Syd sternly.
+
+"So I have; and I arn't come back, on'y to see you, Master Syd."
+
+"Come down, then.  What are you doing up that tree?"
+
+"On'y waiting to talk to you."
+
+"But your father says he is going to rope's-end you for running away."
+
+"No, he isn't going to, because I shan't come back."
+
+"But you are back."
+
+"Oh no, I arn't, Master Syd.  I'm not going to be knocked about with
+rake-handles, and then sent off to sea.  How would you like it?"
+
+"I'm not knocked about, Pan; but I'm going to be sent off to sea."
+
+"Then don't go, Master Syd."
+
+There was no answer for the moment; then the latter looked up in among
+the dark branches, where the dying leaves still clung.
+
+"You said you had come back to see me, Pan."
+
+"Yes, Master Syd."
+
+"What for?  Because you repented?"
+
+"No; it was to ask you--"
+
+"What for?  Some money, Pan?"
+
+"No, Master Syd," replied the boy in a hesitating way.  "Hist!  Listen!
+Some one coming?"
+
+"No; I can't hear any one.  Why did you come back?"
+
+"You don't want to go to sea, Master Syd, do you?"
+
+"No."
+
+"More don't I, and I won't go."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"I'm going right away, Master Syd, to make a fortune.  Come along o'
+me."
+
+"What!" said Syd, who felt startled at the suddenness of the
+proposition, one which accorded so well with his own wishes.  "Go with
+you?"
+
+"Oh, I don't mean as mates, only go together," whispered Pan.  "You'd
+always be master, and I'd always clean your knives and boots for you."
+
+"And what should we do, Pan?  Where could we go so as to make a living?"
+
+"Make a living?" said Pan, in a wondering tone.  "Don't want to make a
+living--we want to make a fortune."
+
+"But we must have some money."
+
+"I've got two shillings saved up."
+
+Syd's brow puckered.  He knew a little more about the necessities of
+life, and did not feel disposed to set sail on the river of life with no
+more than two shillings.
+
+"But you've got some money, Master Syd?"
+
+"Yes; eight or nine shillings, and a crown uncle gave me day before
+yesterday."
+
+"Come along then, that's enough."
+
+Syd hesitated, and thought of the five guineas thrown down in his room.
+
+"If you don't come they'll send you to sea."
+
+That settled it.  So evenly was the lad balanced, that a feather-weight
+was enough to work a change.  His dread of the sea sent the scale down
+heavily.
+
+"Wait here," he said.
+
+"What for?"
+
+"Till I've been and tied up some clean clothes to take with me."
+
+"Never mind your clothes," whispered Pan.  "If your father catches you
+there'll be no chance."
+
+"Look here," said Syd sharply, "if I'm going with you, Pan Strake, I
+shall do as I like.  I'm not going to be ordered about by you."
+
+"No, Master Syd, I won't say nothing no more."
+
+Sydney stood thinking for a moment or two, not hesitating, for his mind
+seemed quite made up.  Then without another word he stepped on to the
+grass, and ran up the garden, keeping out of sight of the occupants of
+the dining-room, by interposing the bushes between him and them.
+
+His heart began to beat heavily now, as the full force of that which he
+was about to do impressed him on hearing his father's voice speaking
+loudly; and as he crept nearer the window, so as to pass it, behind the
+bushes, and reach the entrance, he heard the captain say plainly, his
+words sounding loudly from the open dining-room window--
+
+"Yes, Tom, I've quite made up my mind.  It will be the best thing for
+him.  It will be a better school than the one he is at.  Time he began
+to learn the profession, eh?"
+
+"Yes, quite; and good luck to him," said his uncle, gruffly.
+
+Syd stopped to hear no more, but hurried to the front, waited till all
+was silent in the pantry, and then slipped up to his bedroom, where a
+few minutes sufficed for him to make up a change of clothes in a
+handkerchief.
+
+That was all he wanted, he told himself.  No: a brush and comb.
+
+"Comb will do," he muttered; "people going to seek their fortunes don't
+want brushes."
+
+He ran his hand in the darkness along the dressing-table, and touched
+not a comb, but a tiny pile of money.
+
+Five shillings!  And on his dressing-table!  How did they come there?
+
+He knew the next moment they were not shillings but guineas, the five he
+passionately threw down in a corner of the room, and when the maid came
+up to straighten the place she must have found them and placed them on
+the table.  It was tempting.
+
+Syd was going away out into the wide world with only a few shillings in
+his pocket, and these guineas, which were honestly his, would be
+invaluable, and help him perhaps out of many a scrape.  Should he take
+them or no?
+
+Syd pushed them away from him.  They were given to him because his uncle
+believed that he was going patiently with him to see his friend in
+London.  If he took them it would seem despicable, and he could not bear
+that; so hurrying out of the room, he ran down-stairs lightly and as
+quickly as possible, so as to get away and beyond the power of the
+house, which seemed to be all at once growing dear to him, and acting
+like a magnet to draw him back.
+
+As he cleared the door and made for the shrubs, he heard his uncle's
+voice as he laughed at something the captain said.  Then Captain Belton
+spoke again, and Syd clapped his hand and his bundle to his ears to stop
+the sound.
+
+"If I listen I shan't be able to go," he said with a sigh; and he was
+just about to break into a trot to run down and join Pan, when there was
+a footstep on the gravel, and the boy stopped short in the shadow cast
+by a tree.
+
+"Father!" he said to himself.  "Can he have found out so soon?"
+
+The step on the gravel came nearer, and Syd knew that it must have
+passed right under the tree where Pan was hiding.
+
+"Could father have gone down there so quickly?" thought the boy.
+
+Then all doubt was at an end, for he whose steps were heard stopped
+close at hand, muttering aloud--
+
+"Swears he ketched sight on him in the road to-night, so he must have
+come home.  If I on'y do get howd on him by the scruff of his precious
+neck, I'll teach him to run away."
+
+A cold chill ran through Sydney, and he shivered.  Suppose his father
+knew that he was going to do this mean, contemptible thing--run away and
+degrade himself--what would he say? and how would he act?  Like Barnaby
+spoke, his old boatswain and gardener?
+
+Syd shivered again.  He was not afraid of the pain, but he shrank from
+the idea of the degradation.  He fancied himself held by the collar and
+a stick raised to punish him.  It was horrible.
+
+"If I don't loosen his hide my name arn't what it is," growled the old
+boatswain; and he moved on, going close by Sydney, who stood listening
+with heavily beating heart till Barney had gone right up to the back of
+the house.
+
+Then only did Sydney run on till he was beneath the tree, and called
+Pan.
+
+"You there?"
+
+"Yes, Master Syd."
+
+"Did you hear who that was down the garden?"
+
+"Father."
+
+"Did you hear what he said?"
+
+There was a low laugh up in the tree.
+
+"Yes, I heared; but he has got to ketch me first.  Ready?"
+
+"Yes, I'm ready, Pan."
+
+"Get up here then."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"You can get out along one of these big branches, and drop out into the
+road."
+
+"No, no, come down, and let's go by the gate."
+
+"And come upon my father waiting with a rope's-end?  Why, when he's wild
+he lets out anyhow, and in the dark you'd get it as much as me.  This
+way."
+
+Syd listened, and heard the boy creep actively along the bough and drop
+down on the other side of the fence.
+
+"Catch," he whispered.  "Ready?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+He threw over his bundle, and then swung himself up into the tree, got
+astride the big bough, and was working himself along, when a sound close
+at hand made him stop short to listen.
+
+It was intensely dark where he sat beneath the thickly-leaved tree, and
+all was quite still.  But he felt sure that he had heard some one
+approaching, and just as he had made up his mind to get further along,
+Pan's voice reached him from the other side of the paling--
+
+"Come on."
+
+Hoping that he might have been mistaken, Syd changed his position, so
+that he hung over the bough, and had just begun to edge along, when
+there was a quick rustling behind him, and the breaking down of shrubs,
+as if a man was forcing himself through, and the next minute he felt one
+of his legs seized.
+
+"My father!" thought Syd, and a cold chill of dread, shame, and misery
+ran through him as he lay across the bough, silent and motionless, but
+clinging to it with all his might.
+
+"Got ye, have I, Pan-y-mar?" growled a husky voice.  "Now then, let go,
+and come and take it in your room, or I'll lay on here."
+
+The first sound of that voice sent a warm glow through Syd, and thawed
+his frozen faculties.
+
+Exulting in the idea that it was only the old boatswain, he drew himself
+all together as he held on with his arms to the bough, and then he
+kicked out with all his might; the attack being so unexpected, that as
+Barney received both feet in his chest, he loosened his hold, grasped
+wildly at the air to save himself, and then came down in a sitting
+position with sufficient force to evoke a groan; while by the time he
+had recovered himself sufficiently to rise and get to the fence, he
+could hear the rapid beat of steps in the distance.
+
+"Why, there must be some one with him," growled Barney.  "All right, my
+boy, on'y wait a bit.  You'll come crawling round the cottage 'fore
+you're many hours older, and I'll lay that there rope's-end in the tub.
+It'll make it lie closer and heavier round your back.  Oh!"
+
+He had taken a step to go back out of the shrubbery to the path, when an
+acute pain ran up his spine, and made him limp along to the gardener's
+cottage at the bottom of the grounds, grumbling to himself, and
+realising that men of sixty can't fall so lightly as those who are forty
+years younger.
+
+"But never mind, I'll make him pay for the lot.  He shan't play tricks
+with me.  Lor', I wish I was going to sea again, and had that boy under
+me; I'd make him--Oh, murder! he's a'most broke my back."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIVE.
+
+As Syd kicked himself free of Barney's grasp he heard the heavy fall,
+but he stopped for no more.  A couple of vigorous sidewise movements
+took him clear of the fence, a couple more beyond the ditch, and before
+Barney had begun to think of getting up Syd had whispered to his
+companion the magic words--
+
+"Your father!"
+
+The next minute, hand in hand, and keeping step, the two boys were
+running hard along the road leading away into the country, thinking of
+only one thing, and that--how great a distance they could put between
+them and the Heronry.
+
+Fear lent them wings, for in imagination they saw the old boatswain
+running off to the house, spreading the alarm, and Captain Belton
+ordering the servants out in pursuit, determined to hunt them down and
+bring them back to punishment.
+
+Their swift run, in spite of their will, soon settled down into a steady
+trot, and at the end of a couple of miles this had become a sharp walk.
+Every hair was wet with perspiration, and as they stopped from time to
+time to listen, their hearts beat heavily, and their breath came in a
+laboured way.
+
+"Hear anything?" said Sydney at last.
+
+"No; they've given it up," replied Pan.  "Father can't run far now."
+
+"Think they'll get out the horses, Pan?"
+
+"Dunno.  If they do we shall hear 'em plain enough, and we can take to
+the woods.  They'll never ketch us now.  Arn't you glad you've come?"
+
+Sydney did not answer, for if he had replied he would have told the
+truth, and he did not wish to tell the truth then, because it would have
+been humiliating.
+
+For there they were tramping along the dark road going west, with the
+stars shining down brightly, and, save the distant barking of a dog, all
+most mournfully still.
+
+Pan made another attempt at conversation.
+
+"Won't my father be wild because he arn't got me to hit?"
+
+Syd was too deep in his own thoughts to reply, for he was picturing the
+library at the Heronry, and his father and uncle talking together after
+returning from a vain pursuit.  He could picture their florid faces and
+shining silvery hair by the light of the wax candles.  He even seemed to
+see how many broad wrinkles there were in his father's forehead as he
+stood frowning; and then something seemed to be asking the boy what he
+was doing there.
+
+"Getting tired, Master Syd?" said Pan, after a long pause, filled by the
+_beat beat_ of their footsteps.
+
+But still there was no answer.  The latter question took too much study,
+and suggested other questions in its unanswerable-ness.
+
+Where was he going? and why was he going? and why had he chosen this
+road, which led toward the great forest with its endless trees and bogs?
+
+Sydney could not answer these questions, and by way of relieving the
+buzzing worry in his own brain, he turned to Pan and became a
+questioner.
+
+"Where are we going to sleep to-night?"
+
+"Eh?"
+
+"Where are we going to sleep to-night?"
+
+Pan took off his hat and scratched his head.
+
+"I never thought of that," he said.
+
+"We can't go on walking all night."
+
+"Can't we?"
+
+"Of course we can't.  We shall have to knock at some cottage, and ask
+them to give us a bed."
+
+"But they won't," said Pan, sagely enough.  "'Tarn't likely at this time
+o' night; I wish we could find a haystack."
+
+Pan's wish did not obtain fulfilment, and the two lads tramped on along
+the lonely road for quite a couple of hours longer, when hunger began to
+combine with weariness; and these two at last made themselves so plainly
+heard, that Sydney came to a full stop.
+
+"Yes?" said Pan.
+
+"I did not speak, I was only thinking," said Sydney, drearily.
+
+"What were you thinking, Master Syd?"
+
+"That all this is very stupid, and that we should be ever so much more
+comfortable in bed."
+
+Pan sighed.
+
+"Oh, I dunno," he said.  "I shouldn't, on'y my legs ache ever so."
+
+"We ought to have brought a lot of cold meat and bread with us, Pan."
+
+"Ah! wouldn't it be good now!"
+
+"How long do you think it will be before morning, so that we can get to
+a town, and buy some bread and milk?"
+
+"I dunno, Master Syd.  It can't be late yet, and it's ever so far to a
+town this way, 'cause it's all forest for miles and miles."
+
+They were tramping on again now, but in a more irregular way.  There was
+none of the vigorous pace for pace that had marked the beginning of
+their flight, and as the road grew more rough their steps began to err,
+and sometimes one, sometimes the other was a little in advance.
+
+"Don't you wish you were back in your bed, Pan?" said Sydney at last.
+
+"No."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because father would be standing there with the rope's-end."
+
+This was so much to the point that Sydney did not try to pursue that
+vein of conversation, and they again travelled on in silence till Pan
+spoke--
+
+"Wish you were back in your bed, Master Syd?"
+
+"No," said the latter sharply.
+
+"Course you don't; 'cause your uncle would be one side o' the bed and
+the captain the other, and that would be worse than being here, wouldn't
+it?"
+
+No answer.
+
+"You'd ketch it, wouldn't you, Master Syd?"
+
+Still no answer; and Pan plodded on in silence, wondering whether his
+young master would always be so quiet and strange.
+
+"What's that?" said Sydney suddenly.
+
+"Rabbud."
+
+The two lads stood listening to the rapid run of feet through the
+rustling fern, and then tramped on again through the darkness.
+
+Sydney was having a hard fight the greater part of the time with his
+thoughts, and try how he would, they seemed to be too much for him.  In
+fact, so great a hold did they get at last, that somewhere about three
+o'clock he stopped short; but Pan went on with his head down till his
+name was sharply pronounced, when he stopped short with a start.
+
+"Why, I believe you were asleep."
+
+"Was I, Master Syd?" said the boy, blankly looking about him.  "I s'pose
+'twas because I thought father was making me walk round and round the
+garden all night for not cleaning the boots."
+
+"Turn round--this way."
+
+"Yes, Master Syd.  Where are we going now?"
+
+"Back again."
+
+"Back--again?"
+
+"Yes, to the Heronry."
+
+"What for, sir?"
+
+"Because I've been an idiot."
+
+"But if we go back we shall be punished, Master Syd."
+
+"Of course we shall.  But if we go on we shall be punishing ourselves.
+Oh," cried Sydney, in a voice full of rage against himself, "how could I
+have been such a donkey!"
+
+"It warn't my fault," said Pan, dolefully.  "Father was after me with
+the rope's-end.  I was obliged to go.  Let's try another way, Master
+Syd."
+
+"There is no other way," cried the boy passionately.  "There's only one
+way for us to go, and that's straight back home."
+
+"Oh, there's lots of other ways, Master Syd."
+
+"No, there are not.  There's only one that we can tread."
+
+"Which way's that, sir?"
+
+"I told you--home."
+
+"But I dursen't go back, Master Syd; I dursen't, indeed."
+
+"Yes, you dare; and you shall too."
+
+"Well, not till it's light, Master Syd.  It do hurt so in the dark, and
+you have no chance."
+
+But Syd did not answer, only gave an involuntary shiver, and walked
+slowly back over the ground they had covered during the night.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIX.
+
+A long tramp in silence; but they did not get over the ground very
+rapidly, for Pan's pace grew slower and slower, and when urged by Sydney
+to keep up he made no reply.
+
+"Come along," said Syd at last; "do try and make haste."
+
+"I arn't in a hurry," came in a surly growl.
+
+"But I am.  I want to get back before it's light; we don't want to be
+seen."
+
+"Don't matter whether we're seen or whether we arn't; they'll be
+awaitin' for us."
+
+"Can't help it, Pan," said Syd with a sigh; "we've got to go through
+it."
+
+"I hope, Master Syd, you won't get no rope's-end."
+
+"I'd take yours for you if I could, Pan."
+
+"Ah, you say so," sneered the lad, as he dragged one foot after the
+other, "but you know you can't."
+
+"I know I would," cried Syd, hotly.  "But it's of no use to talk.  We've
+got to go through it like men would."
+
+"Men don't have no rope's-ending," grumbled Pan.
+
+They went on back for another half-mile, with the stars shining
+brightly, and seeming to wink derisively at them; and just as Sydney had
+fancied this, as he gazed up at the broad band of glittering light seen
+through the dense growth of trees which shut them in on either side, a
+loud, ringing, mocking laugh smote their ears, that sounded so strange
+and jeering, that the boys stopped short.
+
+"What's that?" whispered Syd.
+
+"Only a howl.  Why, you've heard 'em lots of times."
+
+"But it never sounded like that before."
+
+"You never heard it out in the woods before.  There she goes again."
+
+The shout rang out again, but more distant.  "Hoi, hoi, hoi, hoi!"
+sounding now more like a hail.
+
+"Oh, yes, it is an owl," said Sydney, breathing more freely.  "Come
+along."
+
+Pan did not move, but stood with his hands in his pockets, and his
+shoulders up to his ears.
+
+"Do you hear?  Come along, and let's get it over."
+
+No answer--no movement.
+
+"Don't be stupid, Pan.  I know you're tired, but you are no more tired
+than I am."
+
+"Yes, I am--ever so much."
+
+"You're not.  You're pretending, because you don't want to come back.
+Now then, no nonsense."
+
+Pan stood like a stork, with his chin down upon his chest.
+
+"Will--you--come--on?"
+
+It was very dark, but Sydney could just make out that the boy shook his
+head.
+
+"Then it isn't because you are so tired.  It's obstinacy."
+
+No response.
+
+"I declare you're as obstinate as an old donkey; and if you don't come
+on I'll serve you the same."
+
+Pan did not stir.
+
+"Do you want me to cut a stick, and make you come, Pan?"
+
+Still no reply; and weary, hungry, and disgusted with himself as well as
+his companion, Sydney felt in that state of irritable rawness which can
+best be described as having the skin off his temper.  He was just in the
+humour to quarrel; and now, stirred beyond bearing by his companion's
+obstinacy, Syd flew at him, grasped his arm, gave it a tug which
+snatched it from the pocket, and roared out--
+
+"Come on!"
+
+Then he retreated a step, for, to his intense surprise, there came from
+the lad, who had always been obedient and respectful, a short, snappish
+"Shan't!" which was more like the bark of a dog than the utterance of a
+boy.
+
+"What!" cried Sydney, as he recovered from his surprise, and felt the
+blood flush in his face.
+
+"Says I shan't.  I arn't coming home to be larruped."
+
+"You are not coming home?"
+
+"No, I arn't.  He's waitin' for me with a big rope's-end all soaked
+hard, and I know what that means, so I shan't come."
+
+Sydney drew a long breath as he reviewed their position, and told
+himself that it was more his fault than that of the gardener's boy that
+they were there.
+
+"I know better than he does, and ought to have stopped him instead of
+going with him, and he shall come back, because it's right."
+
+"Now then, Pan," he said aloud, "I am going back home."
+
+"All right, Master Syd, go home then; but I didn't think you was such a
+coward."
+
+"It isn't being a coward to go back, Pan; it's being a coward to run
+away."
+
+"No, it arn't."
+
+"Yes, it is, so come along."
+
+"I shan't."
+
+"Yes, you will, sir; I order you to come home with me at once."
+
+"Shan't come to be rope's-ended, I tell you.  I'm going away by myself
+if you won't come."
+
+"You are coming home with me, and we're going to ask them to forgive us
+for being so stupid.  Now then; will you come?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Do you want me to make you?"
+
+"I don't want no more to do with you; you're a coward."
+
+Sydney made a dart to seize his arm, but Pan dodged, and there was no
+sign of weariness now, for he bounded aside, and then set off running
+fast in the opposite direction to that in which his companion wished him
+to go.
+
+Pan placed half a dozen good yards between them before Sydney recovered
+from his surprise.  Then without hesitation the pursuit began, both lads
+striving their utmost to escape and capture, and at the end of a couple
+of hundred yards Syd had done so well that with a final bound he flung
+himself upon his quarry, and grasped at his collar.
+
+The result was not anticipated.  Sydney missed the collar, but the
+impetus he gave to the boy he pursued was sufficient to send him
+sprawling in the dirty road; and unable to check himself, Sydney came
+down heavily on Pan's back.
+
+"Now then, will you come home?" panted Sydney.
+
+"Oh!  Ah!"
+
+Two loud yells as Pan wrested himself over, strove to get up, was
+resisted, and then for five minutes there was a fierce wrestling bout,
+now down, now up, in which Sydney found himself getting the worst of it;
+and feeling that in another minute Pan would get free and escape, he
+changed his mode of attack, striking his adversary a heavy blow in the
+face, with the natural result that the wrestling bout became a fight.
+
+Here Sydney soon showed his superiority, easily avoiding Pan's ugly
+rushes, and dealing such a shower of blows upon the lad's head that
+before many minutes had elapsed Pan was seated in one of the wettest
+parts of the road, whimpering and howling, while Sydney stood over him
+with fists clenched.
+
+"You're a coward, that's what you are," howled Pan.
+
+"Get up then, and I'll show you I'm not.  Do you hear?"
+
+"How-ow!"
+
+"Don't howl like a dog.  Get up, sir, and take your beating like a man,"
+said Syd.
+
+"I didn't think it of you, Master Syd," whimpered Pan.
+
+"Now will you get up and walk home?"
+
+For answer the boy got up slowly and laboriously, went on a few yards in
+front, and Sydney followed, feeling, as he thought, as if he was driving
+a donkey home.
+
+For about a mile Pan walked steadily on, with Sydney feeling better than
+he had since he left home, although his knuckles were bruised, and there
+was a dull aching sensation in one angle of his jaw.  He had gained two
+victories, and in spite of his weariness something very near akin to
+satisfaction began to warm his heart, till all at once the figure of Pan
+began to be visible; and as at the end of another hundred yards or so
+they came out upon a patch of open forest land, the figure was much
+plainer.  So was his own, as he looked down and saw in dismay that it
+would soon be broad daylight, that they were some miles from the
+Heronry, and that Pan was covered with mud, his face smeared with ruddy
+stains, and that he, Sydney Belton, known as "the young gentleman up at
+the house," was in very little better trim.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVEN.
+
+The day grew brighter; tiny flecks of orange and gold began to appear
+high up, then there was a warm glow in the east, with the birds chirping
+merrily in the woodlands, and then day began.
+
+But as the morning brightened Syd's spirits grew cloudy, and as they
+reached another patch of wood through which ran a little stream, he
+stopped short, looking anxiously along the road in both directions.
+
+"We can't go home like this, Pan," he said.  "It would be horrid."
+
+"Well, I don't want to go home, do I?" grumbled the boy, in an ill-used
+tone.
+
+"We shall have to hide here in the wood till night, and we can dry and
+clean our muddy clothes and have a good wash before then."
+
+"And what are we to get to eat?"
+
+"Blackberries, and sloes, and nuts."
+
+"Oh yes, and pretty stuff they are.  One apple off the big old tree's
+worth all the lot here."
+
+"Can't help it, Pan.  We must do the best we can."
+
+"Don't let's go back, Master Syd.  You can't tell how rope's-end hurts.
+Alter your mind, and let's go and seek our fortunes somewhere."
+
+"This way," said Syd, by way of answer; and pointing off the road, the
+two lads plunged farther and farther into the wood, keeping close to the
+little stream, which had cut its way deep down below the level; so that
+it was some time before they came to an open sandy spot, where, with the
+bright morning sun shining full upon them, they had a good refreshing
+wash; and soon after, as they sat in a sunny nook where the sand was
+deep and dry, first one and then the other nodded off to sleep.
+
+It was late in the afternoon before Syd awoke, to look up anxiously
+about before the full force of his position dawned upon him; and feeling
+faint and more low-spirited than had ever been his lot before, he sat
+there thinking about what he had to go through.
+
+As near as he could judge they were about five miles from the Heronry,
+and two hours before it grew dark would be ample time for their journey.
+
+"I may as well let him sleep," said Syd.  "He'll only want to go away,
+and we can't do that."
+
+Then, in spite of his efforts to the contrary, his mind began to dwell
+upon home and the various meals.  Just about dusk the dinner would be
+ready, and his father and uncle sitting down, while he--
+
+"Oh, I do feel so hungry!" he muttered.  "I'd give anything for some
+bread and cheese."
+
+He went to the side of the little stream, lay down, and placing his lips
+to the clear cool water, drank heartily a draught that was refreshing,
+but did not allay his hunger; and after sitting down and thinking for a
+time, he put his hands in his pockets and felt his money.  But it was of
+no use out there in the woods.
+
+He sat thinking again, wishing now that they had gone on in spite of
+their condition, for then the trouble would have been over, and he would
+have had food, if it had only been bread and water.
+
+"Oh dear!  I can't bear this any longer!" he said, suddenly jumping up.
+"We must get something to eat if it's only nuts.  Here, Pan, Pan!"
+
+He touched the boy with his foot, but it had no effect; and bending
+down, he took one arm and shook it.
+
+The effect was magical.  Pan sat up, fending his face with his arm, and
+apostrophising some imaginary personage, as he fenced and complained.
+
+"Oh, don't!  I'll never do so no more.  Oh, please!  Oh, I say!  It
+hurts!--You, Master Syd?"
+
+"Yes; who did you think it was?"
+
+"My father with the rope's-end and--oh, I say, I am so stiff and sore,
+and--have you got anything to eat?"
+
+Sydney shook his head despondingly.
+
+"I was waking you up to come and try and find some."
+
+"There's lots o' rabbits about here," grumbled Pan, "if we could catch
+some."
+
+"Yes, and hares too, Pan, if we had a good gun.  Come along."
+
+They rambled along by the stream, finding before long a blackthorn laden
+with sloes, of which Pan ate two, and Sydney contented himself with half
+of one.  Then they were voted a failure, and the blackberries growing in
+a sunny, open spot were tried with no better result.
+
+At the end of another quarter of an hour a clump of hazel stubs came in
+view--fine old nut-bearers, with thickly mossed stumps, among which grew
+clusters of light golden buff fungi looking like cups; but though these
+were good for food, in the eyes of the boys they were simply toadstools,
+and passed over for the sake of the fringed nuts which hung in twos and
+threes, even here and there in fours and fives.
+
+It did not take long to get a capful of these, and they soon sat down to
+make their _al fresco_ meal.
+
+Another disappointment!  The nuts, as they cracked them, were, with a
+few exceptions, full of a blackish dust, and the exceptions contained in
+addition a poor watery embryo of a nut that was not worth the cracking
+to obtain.
+
+They gave up the food hunt in despair, for there was no cultivated land
+near, where a few turnips might have been obtained; and wandering slowly
+back they at last reached the road.
+
+The search had not been, though, without result--it had taken time; and
+when they reached the solitary road the sun was so near setting, that
+after a final protest from Pan, Syd started at once for home and the
+scenes they had to face.
+
+The route they had chosen for their flight was the most solitary leading
+from Southbayton.  It was but little used, leading as it did right out
+into the forest, and in consequence they had it almost to themselves
+while the light lasted, and after dark they did not pass a soul as they
+made their way to the Heronry, under whose palings they stood at last to
+debate in whispers on the next step.
+
+Pan was for flight after they had been on into the town and bought some
+bread and cheese; but the position in which they were brought out
+Sydney's best qualities.
+
+"No," he said, "we've done wrong, and I'll face it out."
+
+"But I won't--I can't," whimpered Pan.  "How do I know as father isn't
+waiting just inside the gate with that there bit of rope?"
+
+"You must, and you shall come back, Pan," said Sydney, decisively.
+"It's of no use to kick against it.  Am I to hit you again?"
+
+"I d' know," whimpered Pan.  "I'm the most miserable chap as ever was.
+Every one's agen me.  Even you knocks me about, and I didn't think it of
+you, Master Syd--I didn't; I thought you would be my friend."
+
+"So I am, Pan, only you don't know it.  Come now, get up.  Go in with
+me, and let's walk straight in to the dining-room, and ask father to
+forgive us."
+
+"I would ha' done it at first," whimpered Pan, "but I can't now."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"'Cause I'm so 'orrid hungry."
+
+"Well, so am I.  Father will give us plenty to eat as soon as he knows.
+Come along; it's only a scolding."
+
+"No, Master Syd, I dursen't.  You go and ask him to forgive you, and to
+order father not to hit me.  P'r'aps I might be able to come then."
+
+"You are the most horrid coward I ever knew," cried Sydney, impatiently.
+"Do you think I don't feel how terrible it is to go and tell father
+I've done wrong?  I'd give anything to be able to run right away."
+
+"Come along, can't yer, Master Syd.  Never mind being hungry; come on."
+
+"No, Pan, I can't.  Now then, don't try to sneak out of it.  Come and
+face them, like a man."
+
+"But I arn't a man, Master Syd, and I can't stir now.  Oh dear! oh dear!
+what will father say?"
+
+"That I've got you at last," roared a gruff voice.  "Hi!  I've got 'em--
+here they are!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHT.
+
+Barney, the old gardener, had been round the garden that evening, and
+had paused thoughtfully close to the tree where he had had his adventure
+the night before; and as he went over the various phases of his little
+struggle and his fall, thinking out how he would have proceeded had he
+got hold of that boy again, he fancied he heard whispering.
+
+The fancy became certainty, and creeping inch by inch closer to the
+palings, without making a rustle among the shrubs, he soon made himself
+certain of who was on the other side.
+
+Barney's face did not beam.  It never had done so, but it brightened
+with a grin as he slowly and cautiously backed out of the shrubs on to
+the path, stepped across on to the grassy verge, and set off at a trot
+in true sailor fashion up the garden toward the house to give the alarm.
+
+"Nay, I won't," he said, as he neared the door.  "They two may have cut
+and run again before I get them two old orsifers round outside.  Sure to
+have gone, for the skipper goes along like a horse, while the admiral's
+more like a helephant on his pins.  Scare any two boys away, let alone
+them.  Lor', if I had on'y brought that there bit o' rope!"
+
+But Barney had left it in his cottage; and as he reached the gate he
+stood to consider.
+
+"Now if I goes down here from the gate, they'll hear me, and be scared
+away.  I know--t'otherwise."
+
+Chuckling to himself, he circumnavigated, as he would have called it,
+the park-like grounds of the Heronry, a task which necessitated the
+climbing of two high fences and the forcing a way through a dense
+quickset hedge.
+
+But these obstacles did not check the old sailor, who cleared the
+palings, reached the road at the other side, panting, stopped to get his
+breath, and then crept along through the darkness on the tips of his
+toes, treating the tall palings as if they were the bulwarks of a ship,
+and by degrees edged himself up nearer and nearer till he was able to
+pounce upon the fugitives in triumph.
+
+Pan uttered a howl, dropped down, and lay quite still; but as the
+ex-boatswain grappled Sydney by the coat, the lad wrenched himself free
+and kept his captor at bay.
+
+"No, no," cried Barney; "you don't get away.  Hoi! help!"
+
+"Hold your noise, you old stupid," cried Sydney.  "Who wants to get
+away?  Keep your hands off."
+
+"Nay, I won't.  I've got you, and I'll keep you."
+
+"I tell you I was going home, only Pan wouldn't stir."
+
+"Wouldn't stir, wouldn't he?  We'll see 'bout that.  Now it's of no use,
+Master Syd.  You're my prisoner, so give in and cry quarter."
+
+"I tell you I have given in; and once more, Barney, I warn you, I'm in
+such a temper I shall hit you."
+
+"Yah! hit away, Midget, who's afeard!  Do you s'render?"
+
+"Yes, yes."
+
+"Then you're my prisoner."
+
+"Nonsense!  Make Pan come."
+
+"Make him come?  Yes, I just will, my lad.  But, I say, to think o' you
+two cutting yourselves adrift, and going off like that!"
+
+"Don't talk so, but bring Pan along.  You needn't be afraid, I shall not
+try to go."
+
+"Par--role, lad?"
+
+"Yes, parole," said Sydney.
+
+"Ah, well, you are a gent, and I can trust you," said Barney.  "Now
+then," he added, as he stirred up his son with the toe of his natty
+evening shoe; "get up."
+
+"No, no, no," whined Pan.
+
+"If you don't get up I'll kick you over the palings.  Get up, you ugly
+young lubber, or I'll--"
+
+"Oh!"  Pan winced, and rose to his knees, eagerly scanning his father's
+hands in the gloom to see if the rope's-end was visible.
+
+"And, look here, Barney," said Sydney, quietly, "you are not to hit
+Pan."
+
+"Not what, my lad?"
+
+"You are not to rope's-end him."
+
+"Who says so?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"Oh, you do, do you?  Well, look here, my lad, he's hurt my feelings so
+that I'm going to lock myself up with him in his bedroom, and then I'm
+going to skin him."
+
+"Oh, oh!" cried Pan.
+
+"You are not going to touch him, but to bring him before my father."
+
+"'Fore the skipper?" said Barney, in a puzzled voice.  "Well, yes, my
+lad, he's in full command.  There is something in that."
+
+"But you shouted, and said some one was coming.  Who is it?"
+
+"Oh, that was only a manoofer, Master Syd, just to scare you into
+s'rending."
+
+"Then there is no one coming?"
+
+"It's par--role, mind."
+
+"Yes, parole, of course."
+
+"And you won't try to cut and run again?"
+
+"No--no!" cried Sydney, impatiently.
+
+"No one.  Now then you, Pan, my man, hyste yerself on them two legs o'
+yourn.  On'y you wait till I'm a-handlin' that there bit o' rope."
+
+"You touch him if you dare!" cried Sydney.  "My father will punish him."
+
+"Oh, Master Syd!" cried Pan.
+
+"Hold your row, will you, you lubber," growled Barney, seizing his son
+by the collar, setting him on his legs, and giving him a good shake at
+the same time.
+
+Pan uttered a low moan, and shuffling his feet along the gravel, allowed
+himself to be led towards the gate.
+
+Sydney shivered as he felt that he was approaching sentence.
+
+"Is my father in the dining-room?"
+
+"Yes, Master Sydney.--Here you, lift up them pretty hoofs o' yours, will
+yer!"
+
+"Is my uncle with him?"
+
+"Yes, Master Syd."
+
+"Have they been trying to find us?"
+
+"No, Master Syd.  The skipper said as if you was such a young cur as to
+go and disgrace yourself like that 'ere by running away and desarting
+the King's colours, he wouldn't stir a step arter yer."
+
+"Oh!" groaned Sydney to himself.  Then in a whisper, "What did my uncle
+say?"
+
+"Said Amen to it, and that he'd been fool enough to give you the money
+to go with."
+
+"No, no, Barney, I didn't take his money."
+
+"Ah, well, I don't know nothing 'bout that.  But here's the gate.  On
+you go first."
+
+"No; go on first with Pan."
+
+"And let you shoot off."
+
+"Am I not on parole?"
+
+"Ay, ay.  Forgetted that.  Now then, you swab; on with you."
+
+As Barney led the way towards the front door, Sydney noticed that there
+was a light in the dining-room, whose windows were open, the weather
+being still warm and fine.
+
+"Stop, Barney," he said, after a sudden thought, "we'll go in there
+through the window."
+
+"Nay, my lad, nay," said the boatswain; "it'll look as if I was spellin'
+arter a glass o' wine."
+
+"Never mind.  I'll go first, and you bring in Pan afterwards."
+
+"Oh, Master Syd, don't."
+
+"Yah! you swab, be quiet!" said Barney, giving his unfortunate son
+another shake.  "Wait till the admiral's pronounced court-martial on
+you; and then--"
+
+He did not finish, but followed close behind Sydney, who drew a long
+breath, walked boldly up to the open French window, looked in a moment
+on where the two fine old veterans were sitting talking sadly together,
+and then stepped in.
+
+"What!" roared the admiral, rising from his chair, and oversetting his
+glass of port.
+
+"You here, sir!" cried Captain Belton.  "Why have you come back?"
+
+"Because I've been thinking all night, father," said Syd, quietly, "and
+I've found out I was a fool."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINE.
+
+There was a dead silence in the dining-room at the Heronry for some
+time, during which Syd stood with his head erect gazing at his father,
+who was erect by the table as he might have stood in old times upon his
+quarter-deck with some mutineer before him; the admiral dropped back
+into his arm-chair, stared from one to the other as if astounded by his
+nephew's declaration, while the light shone full upon Syd, who looked
+pale, shabby, and dirty, but with a frank daring in his face which kept
+the two old men silent.
+
+In the background close to the window stood Barney, with all his old
+training manifest in his attitude--that of a petty officer in charge of
+a prisoner; for that was the character which his son occupied just then
+in his eyes.  His gardening was, for the time being, forgotten, and he
+felt that he was in the presence of his commanding officer, not of the
+master whom he served.
+
+The painful silence was broken by Pan, to whom all this was
+awe-inspiring.  For the moment he forgot all about ropes'-ends, and
+worked himself up into the belief that he would be sentenced to some
+terrible punishment.  He fidgeted about, breathed hard, looked
+appealingly from the captain to the admiral and back again, and at last,
+unable to contain himself longer, he burst forth into a long and piteous
+howl, dropping down upon his knees, and from that attitude would have
+thrown himself prone, had not Barney tightened his hold upon his collar
+and shaken him up into a kneeling position again.
+
+"Stow that!" he growled, as the admiral seized the port wine decanter as
+if to throw at the boy, but altered his mind and poured himself out a
+glass instead.
+
+Then the terrible silence began again, and lasted till the captain
+turned to his brother.  But he did not speak, and after a few moments
+longer Sir Thomas exclaimed--
+
+"You young dog! spent all the money you got out of me, and now you've
+sneaked back."
+
+"I haven't, uncle," cried Syd, indignantly.  "I didn't take it.  It's on
+the table in my room."
+
+This seemed to unlock Captain Belton's lips.
+
+"Well, sir, now you have come back, what do you want?" he said.
+
+"I've told you, father.  I've been wrong, and want you to forgive me."
+
+"No, sir: you deserted; and now you come crawling back and want to go on
+as before.  Can't trust you again.  Go and be a doctor."
+
+"Will you hold up!" growled Barney, fiercely, as he shook his son, who
+seemed to want to burrow down out of sight through the carpet.
+
+"Oh, father!" began Syd.  But he was stopped by his uncle.
+
+"Hold your tongue, sir!  Court hasn't called upon you for your defence.
+Look here, Harry, put the prisoners back while we talk it over."
+
+"Yes," said the captain, coldly, "you can go to your room, sir, and wait
+till your uncle and I have decided what steps we shall take."
+
+"Yes, sir, confound you! and go and wash your dirty face," said Sir
+Thomas, fiercely; "you look a disgrace to your name."
+
+"As for your boy, Strake, take him and punish him well."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir!" growled Barney, with alacrity; but his voice was almost
+drowned by a howl of misery from Pan--a cry that was checked by his
+father's fierce grip.
+
+"Like me to do down Master Syd same time, sir?" whispered the
+ex-boatswain.
+
+"No, father, don't let him be punished," said Sydney, quickly.  "I made
+him come back."
+
+"Yes, sir, he did, he did," cried Pan, eagerly.  "You did; didn't you,
+Master Syd?"
+
+"And I promised him he should not be punished."
+
+"Yes, sir, he did, or else I wouldn't have come back."
+
+"What!" roared the admiral, in a tone which made Pan shrink into
+himself.  "And look here, sir," he continued, turning to his nephew,
+"who made you first in command with your promises?"
+
+"Don't let him be flogged, father," pleaded Syd.  "I'm to blame about
+him.  I did promise him that if he would come back he should not be
+punished."
+
+"Take your boy home, Strake, and bring him here to-morrow morning," said
+the captain, sternly.  "He is not to be flogged till he has made his
+defence."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir!" growled the old boatswain; and pulling an imaginary
+forelock, he hauled Pan out of the room, their passage down the path
+towards the gardener's cottage being accompanied by a deep growling
+noise which gradually died away.
+
+"Well, sir," said the captain, coldly, "you heard what I said."
+
+Syd looked from one to the other appealingly, feeling that as he had
+humbly confessed he was in the wrong, he ought to be treated with more
+leniency, but his uncle averted his gaze, and his father merely pointed
+to the door, through which, faint, weary, and despondent, the boy went
+out into the hall, while the two old men seemed to be listening till he
+had gone up-stairs.
+
+"A miserable, mean-spirited young scoundrel!" said Captain Belton,
+angrily, but his face grew less stern directly, as he saw his brother
+throw himself back in his chair, to laugh silently till he was nearly
+purple.
+
+"Oh, dear me!" he panted at last, "nearly given me a fit.  What a dirty,
+miserable object he looked!"
+
+"Disgraceful, Tom!" said the captain.  "Now, then, what would you do
+with the young dog?  Send him off to some school for a couple of years?"
+
+"No," said the admiral, quietly.
+
+"I don't like thrashing the boy."
+
+"Of course not, Harry."
+
+"But I must punish him."
+
+"What for?"
+
+"What for?  Disobedience.  This mad escapade--"
+
+"Bah!"
+
+"Tom?"
+
+"I said _Bah_!  Punish him?  Why, look at the boy.  Hasn't he punished
+himself enough?  Why, Harry, we were boys once, and precious far from
+perfect, eh?  I say, I don't think either of us would have had the
+courage to have faced our old dad and confessed like that."
+
+"Humph! perhaps not, Tom."
+
+"No perhaps about it, dear old boy."
+
+"But I must punish him."
+
+"No, you mustn't.  I won't have him punished.  I like the young dog's
+spirit.  We said he should go to sea.  He said he didn't want to go, and
+sooner than do what he didn't like he cut and run, till he found out he
+was making a fool of himself, and when he did find it out he came and
+said so like a man."
+
+"Well, yes," said the captain, "he did confess, but this must not be
+passed over lightly."
+
+"Bah!  Tchah!  Pah! let it be.  You see if he don't come the humble
+to-morrow morning, and want us to let him go to sea."
+
+"Think so?"
+
+"Sure of it, my dear boy.  I'm not angry with him a bit.  He showed that
+he had some spirit in running away."
+
+"And that he was a cur in sneaking back."
+
+"Steady there," cried the admiral, "nothing of the kind.  I say it took
+more pluck to come back and face us, and own he was in the wrong, than
+to run away."
+
+The captain sat slowly sipping his port, and the subject was discussed
+no more.
+
+Then at last bedtime came.
+
+Syd was seated in his room alone.  He had washed and changed his
+clothes, expecting moment by moment to be summoned to hear his fate, but
+the hours had passed, and he was sick and faint with hunger and
+exhaustion.
+
+As he sat there he heard the various familiar noises in the house, each
+of which told him what was going on.  He recognised the jingling of
+glasses on a wooden tray, which he knew meant the butler clearing the
+dining-room.  He heard the closing of the library door.  Then there was
+a long silence, followed by the rattling of shutters, the shooting of
+bolts, the noise made by bars, and after another lapse, the murmur of
+deep voices in the hall, the clink of silver candlesticks on the marble
+slab, and a deep cough.
+
+"They're gone up to bed," said Sydney to himself, and wearily thinking
+that he would not be spoken to, and that he had better patiently try to
+forget his hunger in sleep, so as to be ready for the painful interview
+of the morning, he rose to undress.
+
+But he did not begin.  He stood thinking about the events of the past
+twenty-four hours, and like many another, felt that he would have given
+anything to recall the past.
+
+For he was very miserable, and his misery found vent once more as he was
+asking himself what would be his fate in the world.
+
+"Yes, I've behaved like a wretched, thoughtless fool."
+
+"Pst!  Syd!"
+
+He started and looked round, to see that the door had been slightly
+opened, and that his uncle's great red face was thrust into the room.
+
+"Yes, sir," he faltered--he dared not say, "Yes, uncle."
+
+"Had anything to eat?" whispered the old admiral.
+
+"No, sir."
+
+The door closed, and the boy's spirits rose a little, for with all his
+fierceness it was evident that the old admiral was kindly disposed.  But
+his spirits went down again.  Uncle Tom was only a visitor, and his
+father was horribly stern and harsh.  His voice had thrilled the boy,
+who again and again had wondered what was to be his fate.
+
+"I'll tell uncle how sorry I am, and ask him to side with me," thought
+Sydney; and he had just made up his mind to speak to him if he came
+again, and surely he would after coming to ask him about the food, when
+the door-handle rattled slightly, and the boy involuntarily turned to
+meet his uncle just as the door was pressed open a little, and he found
+himself face to face with his father, who remained perfectly silent for
+a few moments as Syd shrank away.
+
+"Hungry, my lad?" he said at last.
+
+"Yes, father--very."
+
+"Hah!"
+
+The door closed, and the prisoner was left once more to his own
+thoughts.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TEN.
+
+"I can't bully him to-night--a young dog!" said the captain.  "He must
+be half-starved.  I wonder whether Broughton has gone to bed."
+
+He went down slowly to the library without a light, meaning to summon
+the butler and make him prepare a tray.
+
+But meanwhile Admiral Belton had provided himself with a chamber
+candlestick and stolen softly down-stairs, through the baize door at one
+side of the hall, and along the passage that led to the kitchen.
+
+"Can't leave the poor lad to starve," he muttered; "and I dare say I
+shall find out the larder by the smell."
+
+He chuckled to himself as he softly unfastened a door.
+
+"Nice game this for one of his Majesty's old officers of the fleet," he
+said.  "Wonder what they'd say at the club if they saw me?"
+
+The door passed, he had no difficulty in finding the kitchen, for there
+was a pleasant chirping of crickets to greet his ear; a kitcheny smell
+that was oniony and unmistakable, and a few paces farther on his feet
+were on stones that were sanded, and all at once there was a loud pop
+where he put down his foot.
+
+He lowered the light and saw that black beetles were scouring away in
+all directions.
+
+"Cockroaches, by George!" he muttered.  "Now where can the larder be?"
+
+There were three doors about, and he went to the first.
+
+"Hah!" he ejaculated, with a sniff.  "Here we are; no doubt about it."
+
+He slipped a bolt, lifted a latch, stepped in and stepped out again
+quickly, then closed the door.
+
+"Scullery!" he snarled.  "Bah! what an idiot I do seem, prowling about
+here."
+
+He crossed the kitchen, slaying two more black beetles with his broad
+feet in transit, and opened another door.  This he found led into a cool
+passage, along one side of which was a wirework kind of cage.
+
+"Here we are at last," he said; and opening the door, he found himself
+in presence of part of a cold leg of mutton, a well-carved piece of
+beef, and a cold roast pheasant.
+
+"Now then for a plate," he muttered; and this he secured by sliding some
+tartlets off one on to the shelf.
+
+"Why, I've no knife," he muttered, as he cast his eyes upon the cold
+roast pheasant.  "I must have some bread too."
+
+A huge brown pan on the stone floor suggested the home of the loaves,
+and on raising the lid he found a half loaf, which he broke in two,
+secured one piece, and transferred it to the plate.
+
+"Hang it all, where is there a knife?" he muttered.  "One can't cut beef
+or mutton without a knife.  'Tisn't even as if one had got one's sword.
+Here--I know."
+
+He seized the pheasant.
+
+"Humph! too much for a boy.  Don't know, though; dare say he could
+finish it.  Wouldn't do him good.  I'll--that's it."
+
+He took hold of one leg, and holding the bird down, pulled off one of
+its joints; then another; after which he placed the pair of legs
+thoughtfully on the plate.
+
+"May as well give him a wing too," he said; and seizing the one having
+the liver, he was in the act of tearing it off, when an exclamation
+behind made him start round and face the captain.
+
+"My dear Tom!" exclaimed the latter.  "Why, my dear boy, didn't you
+speak, and so have ordered a supper-tray?"
+
+"But you seem to be hungry too," growled the admiral, pointing with the
+wing he had now torn-off at a plate and knife and fork his brother
+carried.
+
+"Eh? yes," said the captain, starting and looking conscious.  "I--er--
+that is--"
+
+"Why, Harry!" exclaimed Sir Thomas.
+
+"Tom!" cried the captain.  "You don't mean that you have come down to--"
+
+"Yes, I do," cried the admiral, fiercely.  "Think I was going to bed
+after a good dinner to shut my eyes whilst that poor boy was
+half-starved?"
+
+"But it is a punishment for him," said the captain, sternly.
+
+"Punishment be hanged, sir!" cried Sir Thomas.  "Harry, you are my
+brother, and I am only a guest here, but you are a humbug, sir."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Mean that you've been bouncing about being strict, and the rest of it,
+and yet you brought that plate and knife to cut your boy some supper."
+
+"Well, er--I'm afraid I did, Tom."
+
+"I'm not afraid, but I'm very glad you're not such a hard-hearted
+scoundrel.  Poor boy! he must be famished.  Here, give me that knife."
+
+The captain handed the knife, but in doing so brushed his sleeve over
+the flame of the candle he carried, and extinguished it.
+
+"How provoking!"
+
+"Never mind," said his brother; "one must do."
+
+As he spoke, the admiral hacked a great piece off the breast of the
+pheasant, and added it to the legs and wing.
+
+"There," he said, "that ought to keep him going till breakfast.  Must
+have a bit o' salt, Harry.  Hush!"
+
+He stooped down and blew out the remaining candle, as the captain caught
+his arm, and they stood listening.
+
+For the creaking of a door had fallen upon their ears; and partly from
+involuntary action consequent upon the dread of being caught in so
+unusual a position, partly from the second thought to which he
+afterwards gave vent, the admiral sought refuge in the dark.
+
+"Burglars, Harry," he whispered.  "They're after your plate."
+
+"Hist! don't speak; we may catch them," was whispered back, and the two
+old officers stood listening for what seemed an interminable length of
+time before they saw the dim reflection of a light; heard more
+whispering, and then the door leading into the larder passage was softly
+opened.
+
+"Coming into the trap," thought the captain, as with his heart beating
+fast he prepared for the encounter which he foresaw must take place.
+"Be ready," he said, with his lips to his brother's ear.
+
+"Right.  They're going to board," was whispered back.
+
+They were not long kept in doubt, for the larder door was suddenly
+thrown open, and three men dashed in armed with bludgeons and a cutlass.
+There was a sharp scuffle in the darkness, in which the two brave old
+officers made desperate efforts to master their assailants, but only to
+find that their years were against them, and they were completely
+overcome.
+
+"You lubbers!  Do you give in?" cried a hoarse voice--that of the man
+sitting on the captain's chest, while two men were holding down the
+admiral, who still heaved and strove to get free.
+
+"Strake, you scoundrel! is it you?" panted the captain.
+
+Barney executed a curious manoeuvre, half bound, half roll, off his
+master, and brought up close to one of the larder shelves, while one of
+the other men left the admiral and ran out, to return with a light.
+
+The scene was strange.  Barney was standing supporting himself against
+the larder shelf, with his elbow on the cold sirloin of beef; the
+footman, in his shirt and breeches, was in a corner; and Captain Belton
+and his brother, with their clothes half torn-off their backs, were
+seated on the bare floor, staring angrily at their assailants; while
+Broughton, the butler, was in the doorway, with the candle he had
+fetched held high above his head.
+
+"My last tooth gone," roared the admiral.  "You scoundrels, you shall
+pay for this."
+
+"Strake, you rascal!" cried the captain.  "Broughton, is this some plot
+to rob me?"
+
+The men stared aghast, as the captain struggled up.
+
+"Speak, you ruffians!  You, John!" roared the captain, as he got his
+breath again, and stood trembling with passion as he glared at the
+footman.
+
+"Beg pardon, sir," stammered the frightened servitor.
+
+"No, don't stop for that, sir," cried his master; "tell me what the
+dickens this means."
+
+"Please, sir, I heard noises down-stairs, and I thought it was after the
+plate; so I told Broughton, sir, and he sent me after the gardener,
+sir."
+
+"And then you came and attacked us," roared the admiral.  "Here, I'm
+half killed."
+
+"We didn't know it was you, Sir Thomas," growled Barney.
+
+"Then why didn't you know, you idiot?" cried the captain.
+
+"Didn't think anybody could be down-stairs, sir," said the butler,
+respectfully.
+
+"Why didn't you show your colours, you scoundrel?" cried the admiral,
+"and not come firing broadsides into your friends.  Confound--I say,
+Harry, my lad, just look at me."
+
+"I'm very sorry, sir," faltered the butler.
+
+"Hang your sorrow, sir!  You've broke my watch-glass, and I can feel the
+bits pricking me."
+
+"Come to me at ten o'clock to-morrow morning, all of you," cried the
+captain, fiercely, "and I'll pay you your wages, and you shall go."
+
+"No, no, no," said the admiral; "I think we've given them as much as
+they gave us, and--haw, haw, haw!" he roared, bursting into a tremendous
+peal of laughter; "we didn't show our colours either.  It's all right,
+brother Harry; they took us for burglars--but they needn't have hit
+quite so hard."
+
+"Beg your honour's pardon, sir, sure," growled Barney.
+
+"Beg my pardon, sir!--after planting your ugly great knees on my chest,
+and then sitting on me with your heavy carcase!"
+
+"Is anything the matter?" said a voice at the door, and Sydney made his
+appearance, looking startled at the scene.
+
+"No, no, my boy," cried his uncle, cheerily; "only your father and I
+came down to get you a bit of supper, and then they boarded us in the
+dark."
+
+"Yes, yes, that was it, Syd," said the captain.  "Here, put that plate
+on a tray, Broughton, and take it into the library.  I'm very sorry this
+has happened."
+
+"All a mistake, sir, I'm sure," said the butler, taking the plate with
+the hacked and torn-off portions of pheasant.
+
+"Yes; don't say any more about it.  Come, brother Tom; come, Sydney."
+
+He led the way, but the jolly old admiral could not follow for laughing.
+He leaned up against the larder shelf, and stood wiping his eyes; and
+every time he got over one paroxysm he began again.  But at last he
+beckoned to Barney.
+
+"Here, give me your arm, bo'sun," he said, "and help me into the
+library; I feel as if everything were going by the board.  Oh, dear me!
+oh, dear me!  Wait till I've buttoned this waistcoat.  Well, it's a
+lesson.  Done for you, Syd, if you had been going to sea.  Never attack
+without proper signals to know who are enemies and who are not."
+
+The supper was soon spread in the library, and Sydney was ravenous for a
+few mouthfuls, but after that he pushed his plate away, and could eat no
+more.
+
+"What!" cried his uncle; "done?  Nonsense!  I can peck a bit now myself;
+and, Harry, my boy, I must have a glass of grog after this."
+
+The result was that Syd did eat a decent supper, and an hour later, when
+all was still, he sat thinking for a time about the coming morning.
+Perhaps more than that of the fact that neither his father nor his uncle
+had shaken hands when they parted for the night.
+
+Then came sleep--sweet, restful sleep--and he was dreaming vividly for a
+time of a desperate fight with the French, in which he boarded a larder,
+and captured a butler, footman, and a gardener.  After that all was
+dense, dreamless sleep, till he started up in bed, for there was a
+knocking at his door.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ELEVEN.
+
+"May I come in, sir?"
+
+"Yes; come in, Broughton," said Syd, recognising the voice, and the
+butler entered with one hand bound up.
+
+"That, sir?  Oh, nothing, sir.  Only got it in the scrimmage last night.
+So glad to see you back again, Master Syd."
+
+"Oh, don't talk about it, Broughton," groaned the boy.  "My father
+down?"
+
+"No, sir; but he's getting up, and your uncle too.  I was to come and
+tell you to make haste."
+
+"Yes, I'll make haste," said Syd; and as soon as he was alone he began
+to dress hurriedly, with every thought of the blackest hue, and a
+sensation of misery and depression assailing him that was horrible.
+
+He quite started as he went to the glass to brush his hair, for his face
+was white and drawn as if he had been ill.  But there was very little
+more time for thought.  The breakfast-bell rang, and he hurried down
+into the dining-room, glad to get off the staircase and through the
+hall, where one of the housemaids was still busy, and ready to look at
+him curiously as the boy who ran away from home--and came back.
+
+Syd thought of that latter, for he knew but too well the servants might
+think it was brave--almost heroic and daring--to run away; to come back
+seemed very weak and small.
+
+In those few moments Syd wished that ten years would glide away, and all
+the trouble belong to the past.
+
+His father was in a chair by the window ready to look up sharply, and
+then let his eye fall upon the book he was reading without uttering a
+word.
+
+Broughton came in bearing a tray with the coffee and a covered dish or
+two ready to place upon the table, then he left, and Syd was alone again
+with his father.
+
+"What will he say?" thought the culprit; but he could not decide in
+which form his verbal castigation would come.
+
+As he sat glancing at his father from time to time, Syd noted that there
+was a scratch upon his forehead, and that a bit of sticking-plaster was
+on one of his knuckles, proofs these of the severity of the past night's
+struggle.
+
+Then came a weary waiting interval before there was a deep-toned cough
+outside the door.
+
+"Hah!" ejaculated the captain, rising from his seat as the door opened,
+and the old admiral stumped into the room.
+
+"Morning, Harry," he said; "morning, Syd."
+
+He closed the door behind him and came forward, and then, odd as it may
+sound in connection with one who was weak, unwell, and suffering from so
+much mental trouble, Sydney burst into a hearty fit of laughter.  He
+tried to check it; he knew that under the circumstances it was in the
+worst of taste; he felt that he would excite his father's anger, and
+that then he would be furious; but he laughed all the same, and the more
+he tried the more violent and lasting the fits grew.
+
+"Sydney!" cried his father, and then there was a pause followed by a
+hearty "Ha, ha, ha!" as the captain joined in, and the admiral gently
+patted his own face first on one side and then on the other.
+
+"Yes," he said, quietly; "you may well laugh.  I look a nice guy, don't
+I?"
+
+"Oh, uncle!  I beg your pardon--but--oh, oh, oh, I can't stop laughing,"
+cried Sydney.
+
+"Well, get it done, boy," said the old gentleman, "for I want my
+breakfast.  Oh, here is Broughton."
+
+The butler entered with a rack of hot dry toast, and as he advanced to
+the table the admiral exclaimed--
+
+"Now, sir, look here; you've made a nice mess of my phiz.  What have you
+got to say to this?"
+
+The butler raised his eyes as he set down the toast, gazed full in the
+old gentleman's face, his own seemed frozen solid for a moment, and
+then, clapping the napkin he carried to his mouth to smother his
+laughter, he turned and fled.
+
+"And that son of a sea-cook begged my pardon last night, and said he was
+sorry.  Yes, I am a sight.  Look at my eyes, Harry, swollen up and
+black.  There's a nose for you; and one lip cut.  Why, I never got it so
+bad in action.  And all your fault, Syd.  There, I forgive you, boy."
+
+"Well, it's impossible to give this boy a serious lecture now, Tom,"
+said the captain, wiping his eyes, as he passed the coffee.
+
+"Of course.  Who wants serious lectures?" said the admiral, testily.
+"The boy did wrong, and he came back and said he was sorry for it.
+You've told me scores of times that you never flogged a man who was
+really sorry for getting into a scrape.  Give me some of that ham, Syd,
+and go on eating yourself.  I say, rum old punch I look, don't I?"
+
+Syd made no reply, but filled his uncle's plate, and the breakfast went
+on nearly to the end before the topic dreaded was introduced.
+
+"Well, Sydney," said his father, rather sadly, "so I suppose I must let
+you be a doctor?"
+
+"Wish he was one now," cried the admiral.  "I'd make him try to make me
+fit to be seen.  Humph! doctor, eh?  No; I don't think I shall try to be
+ill to give you a job, Syd; but I'm very glad, my boy, that you did not
+take that money."
+
+Sydney bent over his coffee, and his father went on--
+
+"It's like letting you win a victory, sir, but I suppose I must give in.
+I don't like it though."
+
+"Humph! more do I," said Sir Thomas.  "I'll forgive you though if you
+train up for a naval surgeon.  Do you hear, sir?"
+
+"Yes, uncle, I hear," said Sydney.
+
+"Then why don't you speak?"
+
+"I was thinking of what you said, uncle."
+
+"Humph!  Well, I hope you'll take it to heart."
+
+"Yes," said his father; "you may as well be a surgeon."
+
+"That's what I should have liked to be," said Sydney, "if I had been a
+doctor."
+
+"Well, you're going to be, sir.  Your uncle and I have talked it over,
+and you shall study for it, and begin as soon as you're old enough."
+
+Sydney sat still, gazing at his plate; but he raised his eyes at last,
+and looked firmly at his father, who was watching him keenly.
+
+"Thank you, father," he said.
+
+"No, sir, don't thank me; thank your indulgent uncle."
+
+"No, don't, boy, because I give way most unwillingly; and I'm
+confoundedly sorry you should want to be such a physic-mixing swab."
+
+"You needn't be sorry, uncle," said Sydney, quietly; "and I'm very
+grateful to you, father, but I shall not be one now."
+
+"Not be a doctor!" said the captain, sharply.  "Then pray, sir, what do
+you mean to be?"
+
+"A sailor, father."
+
+"What?" cried the brothers in chorus.
+
+"And I want to go to sea at once."
+
+"You do, Syd?"
+
+"Yes, father.  I saw it all when I'd gone away, and I came back for
+that."
+
+"Hurrah!" cried the admiral, starting from his seat, and dropping back
+with a groan of pain.  "Bless my heart!" he cried, "how sore I am!  But
+hurrah! all the same.  You'll be a middy, my boy."
+
+"Yes, uncle.  I want to be at once."
+
+"And you'll try to make yourself a good officer, my boy?" cried his
+father, leaning over the table to catch his son's hand.
+
+"Yes, father, as hard as ever I can."
+
+"T'other hand, Syd, lad," cried the admiral; and he grasped it firmly.
+"Try, Harry?--he won't need to try.  He's a Belton every inch of him,
+and he'll make a ten times better officer than ever we did.  Here,
+where's the port?  Who's going to drink success to the boy in coffee?
+Bah, what does the liquor matter!  We'll drink it in our hearts, boy.
+Here's to Admiral Belton--my dear boy--our dear boy, Harry, eh?"
+
+"God bless you, my lad!" cried Captain Belton.  "You've made me feel
+more proud of you and happy than I have felt for years."
+
+"Here, hi!" roared the admiral; "where's that lubber Strake?  I want
+some one to help me cheer.  Sydney, boy, God bless you!  I _am_ glad you
+ran away."
+
+"Then you forgive me, father?"
+
+"Hold your tongue, sir," cried Captain Belton, laying his hand on his
+son's shoulder.  "There are things that we all like to forget as soon as
+we can--this is one of them.  Let's blot it out."
+
+"But I want to ask a favour, father."
+
+"Granted, my boy, before you ask."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWELVE.
+
+Sydney Belton, as he felt the pressure of his father's hand, could not
+speak for a few minutes, and when he did find utterance, he seemed to
+have caught a fresh cold, for his voice sounded husky.
+
+"I want as a favour, father--" he began, in a faltering voice.
+
+"Here, it's all right, Syd, my boy," said his uncle; "don't bother your
+father for money.  Now then, how much do you want?"
+
+"I don't want money, uncle."
+
+"Eh?  Don't want money, sir?  Wait a bit then till you get among your
+messmates, and you'll want plenty."
+
+"I want to beg Panama off from being punished."
+
+"Ah, to be sure.  I'd forgotten him," cried Captain Belton; and he went
+to the fireplace and rang the bell.
+
+The butler answered, looking very serious and apologetic now as he
+glanced at Sir Thomas.  But the old gentleman only shook his fist at him
+good-humouredly as his brother spoke.
+
+"Send John down to the cottage, to tell Strake to come up directly with
+his son."
+
+"Look here," said Sir Thomas, chuckling, "don't you two look like that.
+Pull serious faces, and let's scare the young dog.  Do him good."
+
+By the time the breakfast was ended steps were heard in the hall, and
+the butler came in to announce that the gardener was waiting with his
+boy.
+
+"Send them in," said Captain Belton, austerely.
+
+The butler retired; Sir Thomas gave his brother and nephew several nods
+and winks, and then sat up looking most profoundly angry as the door was
+again opened and a low growling arose from the hall.  Then a few
+whimpering protests, more growling, with a few words audible:
+"Swab"--"lubber"--"hold up!"--and then there was a scuffle, another
+growl, and Panama, looking white and scared, seemed to be suddenly
+propelled into the room as if from a mortar, the mortar making its
+appearance directly after in the shape of Barney, who pulled his
+forelock and kicked out a leg behind to each of the old officers before
+pointing to Pan and growling out--
+
+"Young desarter--wouldn't come o' deck, your honours, and--"
+
+Barney's remarks had been addressed to his master, but he now turned
+round toward Sir Thomas, and seemed for the first time to realise the
+old admiral's condition, when his jaw dropped, he stared, and then began
+to scratch his head vigorously.
+
+"My!" he ejaculated; "your honour did get it last night."
+
+"Get it, you rascal--yes," cried Sir Thomas; "you nearly killed me
+amongst you."
+
+"And, your honour," said Barney, hoarsely, as he turned to his master,
+"I hadn't no idee it was you.  I thought it was--"
+
+"Yes, yes, never mind now," said the captain.  "I sent for you about
+this lad."
+
+"Oh, Master Syd, sir, say a word for me," cried the boy, piteously.
+"Father would ha' whacked me if I hadn't run away; then you whacked me
+when I did; and now I'm to be whacked again.  Wish I was dead, I do."
+
+"Eh! eh! what's that?" cried Captain Belton.  "You thrashed him, Sydney;
+what for?"
+
+"Well, father, we did have a little misunderstanding," said Sydney,
+composedly.
+
+"It was 'cause I wouldn't come back, sir; that's it, sir," whimpered
+Pan.  "I knowd father had made the rope's-end ready for me, and he had."
+
+"What's that?" said the captain.  "I said you were not to be flogged
+until you had been tried."
+
+"Well, your honour, orders it was, and I didn't lay it on him," growled
+Barney.
+
+"No; but you laid it across me in bed, and you kep' on showing of it to
+me, and you said that was my supper, and my breakfass, and--and--I wish
+I hadn't come back, I do."
+
+"Is this true, Strake?"
+
+"Well, your honour, I s'pose it's about it," said the boatswain.  "I
+'member showing of it to him once or twyste."
+
+"He's got it in his pocket now, sir," cried Pan.
+
+"Ay, ay.  That's a true word, lad."
+
+"Let's see," said Sir Thomas, in magisterial tones.
+
+Barney fumbled unwillingly in his pocket, and drew out a piece of rope
+about two feet long, well whipped round at the ends with twine.
+
+"Humph!" said Sir Thomas, taking the instrument of torture.  "So that's
+what you flog him with."
+
+"Well, your honour, meant to make a man of him."
+
+"Arn't yer going to speak a word for me, Master Syd?" whispered Pan.
+
+"Silence, sir!" said the captain.  "Now look here: you ran away from
+your service, and from your father's house.  Then, I suppose, you tried
+to persuade my son to go with you."
+
+Pan looked up reproachfully at Sydney.
+
+"I wouldn't ha' told o' you, Master Syd.  But I don't care now.  Yes; I
+wanted him to _come_."
+
+"Well, I'm glad you spoke the truth; but your companion did not tell
+tales of you.  Now, look here, sir: I suppose you know you've behaved
+like an ungrateful young scoundrel?"
+
+"Yes, sir," whimpered Pan.
+
+"And you know you deserve to be flogged?"
+
+"Yes, sir, and I want it over; it's like all flogging, and wuss, for him
+to keep on showing me that there rope's-end."
+
+"Better pipe all hands to punishment, bo'sun," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"Ay, ay, sir," said Barney, thrusting his hand in his breast; and
+bringing out a silver whistle attached to his neck by a black ribbon, he
+put it to his lips.
+
+"No, no," cried the captain, "we're not aboard ship now.  I wish we
+were," he added, "eh?"
+
+Sir Thomas nodded.
+
+"Well, sir," continued the captain, "are you ready to take your
+flogging?"
+
+"Yes, sir," said Pan, dolefully.
+
+"And what will you say if I forgive you?"
+
+"And make him forgive me too, sir?" cried Pan, nodding his head sideways
+at his father.
+
+"Yes, my lad."
+
+"Anything, sir.  There, I'll never run away agen."
+
+"Will you be a good, obedient lad, and do as your father wishes you, and
+go to sea?"
+
+"No," said Pan, stolidly, "I won't."
+
+"Humph! what are we to say to this, Sir Thomas?"
+
+"Say?--that he's a cowardly young swab."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir; that's it," cried Barney.
+
+"Silence, sir.  Look here, boy; we'll give you another chance.  Will you
+go to sea?"
+
+The boy shook his head.
+
+"What! not with my son?"
+
+"What!" cried Barney, excitedly.  "Master Syd going?"
+
+"Yes, Barney," cried the boy.  "I'm going to be a sailor after all."
+
+The ex-boatswain showed every tooth in his head in a broad grin, slapped
+one hand down on the other, and cried in a gruff voice--
+
+"Dear lad!  There, your honours!  The right stuff in him arter all.
+Can't you get me shipped in the same craft with him, Sir Thomas?  I'm as
+tough as ratline hemp still."
+
+"You going to sea, Master Syd?" said Pan, looking at the companion of
+his flight wonderingly.
+
+"Yes, Pan; at once.  Will you come?"
+
+"Course I will, sir," cried Pan.  "Going to-day?"
+
+"There--there, your honours!  Hear that?" cried Barney, excitedly.
+"Aren't that the right stuff too?  Here, your honour, begging your
+pardon, that bit of rope's-end's mine."
+
+He caught up the rope, and gave it a flourish over his head.
+
+"Here, stop! what are you going to do?" cried Sydney, dashing at him,
+and getting hold of one end of the rope.
+
+"Going to do, Master Syd?--burn it; you may if you like.  It's done it's
+dooty, and done it well.  I asks your honours, both on you--aren't that
+wirtoo in a bit o' rope?  See what it's made of him.  Nothing like a bit
+o' rope's-end, neatly seized with a bit o' twine."
+
+"Ah, well, you've a right to your opinion, Strake," said the captain.
+"There, you can take him back home.  I dare say we can manage to get him
+entered in the same ship as my son."
+
+"And if he's going to do the right thing now," said Sir Thomas, "I'll
+pay for his outfit too."
+
+"Thank, your honour; thank, your honour!" cried Barney.
+
+"Oh!"
+
+This last was from Pan, who had received a side kick from his father's
+shoe.
+
+"Then why don't yer touch yer hat to the admiral and say thankye too,
+you swab?" growled Barney, in a deep, hoarse whisper.
+
+"There," said the captain, "you can go now."
+
+"Long life to both your honours," cried Barney.  "Come, Pan, my lad, get
+home; you dunno it, but your fortune's made."
+
+"Well, Syd, are you satisfied?" said the captain, as soon as they were
+alone.
+
+"Yes, father."
+
+"Then we'll go up by to-night's coach and see Captain Dashleigh
+to-morrow.  What do you say?"
+
+"I'm ready, father.  Will uncle come too?"
+
+"Uncle Tom come too, you young humbug! how can I?" cried the admiral.
+"No, I'm on sick leave, till my figure-head's perfect, so I shall have
+to stop here and sip the port."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
+
+A supercilious-looking waiter--that is to say, a waiter who has had a
+good season and saved a little money--was standing at the door of the
+oldest hotel in Covent Garden, when a clumsy coach was driven up to the
+door.
+
+The coach was so old and shabby, and drawn by two such wretched beasts,
+that the supercilious waiter could not see it; and after looking to his
+right and his left he turned to go in.
+
+"Here, hi!" came from the coach; but the waiter paid no heed.
+
+"Here, Syd, fetch that scoundrel here."
+
+The door was flung open, the lad leaped out and went at the waiter like
+a dog, seizing him by the collar, spinning him round, and racing him
+protesting the while down the steps and over the rough pavement to the
+coach door.
+
+"You insolent scoundrel, why didn't you come when I called?" said
+Captain Belton, from inside the fusty coach.
+
+"Don't I tell you we're full!" cried the waiter; "and don't you come
+putting--"
+
+"Silence, sir! how dare you!" cried the captain in his fiercest tones.
+"How do you know that we want to stay in your dirty hotel?  Take my card
+up to Captain Dashleigh, and say I am waiting."
+
+The man glanced at the card, turned, and ran with alacrity into the
+house.
+
+"That's just the sort of fellow I should like to set Strake at, Syd,
+with his mates and the cat.  A flogging would do him good."
+
+The next minute the waiter was back at the coach door with Captain
+Dashleigh's compliments, delivered in the most servile tones, and would
+Captain Belton step up?
+
+"Get down my valise and pay the coachman," said the captain.  "We shall
+sleep here to-night, though you are full."
+
+They were shown into a room where a little, dandified man in full
+uniform was walking up and down, evidently dictating to his secretary,
+who was busily writing.
+
+Syd stared.  He had been accustomed to look upon his father and uncle,
+and the friends who came to see them, as types of naval officers--big,
+loud-spoken, grey-haired, bluff men, well tanned by long exposure to the
+weather; and he wondered who this individual could be who walked with
+one hand upon the hilt of his sword, pressing it down so that the sheath
+projected nearly at right angles between the tails of his coat, and as
+he walked it seemed to wag about like a monkeyish part of his person.
+The other hand held a delicate white handkerchief, which he waved about,
+and at each movement it scented the air.
+
+"Ah, my dear Captain Belton, so glad to see you.  Lucky your call was
+now.  So much occupied, you see.  Sit down, my dear sir.  And this is
+your son?  Ah," he continued, inspecting Syd through a gold-rimmed
+eyeglass, "nice little lad.  Looks healthy and well.  Seems only the
+other day I joined the service in his uncle's ship.  I have your
+brother's letter in my secretary's hands.  So glad to oblige him if I
+can.  How is the dear old fellow?"
+
+"Hearty, Captain Dashleigh," said Syd's father.  "Desired to be kindly
+remembered to you."
+
+"Ah, very good of him.  Splendid officer!  The service has lost a great
+deal through his growing too old."
+
+"We don't consider ourselves too old for service.  Timbers are sound.
+We only want the Admiralty to give us commands."
+
+"Ah, yes, to be sure," said the dandy captain, who seemed to be about
+eight-and-thirty; and he continued his walk up and down the room as his
+visitors sat.
+
+"You have succeeded well, Dashleigh," said Captain Belton.
+
+"Well, yes--pretty well--pretty well.  Very arduous life though."
+
+"Oh, hang the arduous life, sir," said Captain Belton.  "It's a grand
+thing to be in command of a two-decker."
+
+"Yes," said the little man, who in physique was rather less than Sydney;
+"the Government trust me, and his Majesty seems to have confidence in my
+powers.  But you will, I know, excuse me, my dear old friend, if I
+venture to hint that my time is not my own.  Sir Thomas said you would
+call and explain how I could serve him.  What can I do?  One moment--I
+need not say that I look upon him as my father in the profession, and
+that I shall be delighted to serve him.  You will take a pinch?"
+
+He handed a magnificent gold snuff-box set with diamonds, and a portrait
+on china in the lid indicated that it came from one of the ministers.
+
+"Thanks, yes.  But, my dear Dashleigh, you should not use scented
+snuff."
+
+"Eh?--no?  The fashion, my dear sir.  Now I am all attention."
+
+"Then why don't you sit down as a gentleman would?" said Captain Belton
+to himself.  Then aloud--"My business is very simple, sir.  This is my
+son, whom I wish to devote to the King's service, and my brother, Sir
+Thomas Belton, asks, and I endorse his petition, that you will enter him
+in your ship, and try to do by him as my brother did by you."
+
+"My dear Captain Belton!  Ah, this is sad!  What could have been more
+unfortunate!  If you had only been a week sooner!"
+
+"What's the matter, sir?" said the captain, sternly.
+
+"Matter?--I am pained, my dear Captain Belton; absolutely pained.  I
+would have done anything to serve you both, my dear friends, but my
+midshipmen's berth is crammed.  I could not--dare not--take another.  If
+there was anything else I could do to serve Sir Thomas and you I should
+be delighted."
+
+"Thank you, Captain Dashleigh," said Syd's father, rising; "there is
+nothing else.  I will not detain you longer."
+
+"I would say lunch with me, my dear sir, but really--as you see--my
+secretary--the demands upon my time--you thoroughly understand?"
+
+"Yes, sir, I understand.  Good morning."
+
+"Good morning, my dear Captain Belton; _good_ morning, my young friend.
+I will speak to any of the commanding officers I know on your behalf.
+Good day."
+
+The captain stalked silently down-stairs, closely followed by Syd, and
+then led the way round and round the market, taking snuff savagely
+without a word.
+
+But all at once he stopped and drew himself up, and gave his cane a
+thump on the pavement, while his son thought what a fine-looking, manly
+fellow he was, and what a pleasure it was to gaze upon such a specimen
+of humanity after the interview with the dandy they had left.
+
+"Syd," said the captain, fiercely, "if I thought you would grow up into
+such an imitation man as that, confound you, sir, I'd take and pitch you
+over one of the bridges."
+
+"Thank you, father.  Then you don't like Captain Dashleigh?"
+
+"Like him, sir?  A confounded ungrateful dandy Jackanapes captain of a
+seventy-four-gun ship!  Great heavens! the Government must be mad.  But
+that's it--interest at court!  Such a fellow has been promoted over the
+heads of hundreds of better men.  All your uncle's services to him
+forgotten, and mine too."
+
+"But if there wasn't room in his ship, father?"
+
+"Room in his ship sir?" cried the captain, wrathfully.  "Do you think
+there would not have been room in my ship for the son and nephew of two
+old friends?  Why, hang me, if I'd been under that man's obligations,
+I'd have shared my cabin with the boy but what he should have gone."
+
+"Yes, father, I think you would.  So we've failed."
+
+"Failed?  Yes.  No; never say die.  But I'm glad.  Hang him!  With a
+captain like that, what is the ship's company likely to be!  No, Syd, if
+you can't go afloat with a decent captain, you shall turn doctor or
+tailor."
+
+"Why don't you have a ship again, father?"
+
+"Because I have no interest, my boy, and don't go petitioning and
+begging at court.  But they don't want sea-captains now, they want
+scented popinjays.  Why, Syd, I've begged for a ship scores of times
+during the past two years, but always been passed over.  I wouldn't care
+if they'd appoint better men; but when I see our best vessels given to
+such things as that!  Oh, hang it, I shall be saying what I shall be
+sorry for if I go on like this.  Come and have a walk.  No; I'll go to
+the Admiralty, and see if I can get a hearing there.  If I can't--if
+they will not help me to place my boy in the service which all the
+Beltons have followed for a hundred and fifty years, I'll--There, come
+along, boy, the world is not perfect."
+
+He walked sharply down into the Strand and then on to Whitehall, where
+he turned into the Admiralty Yard, and sent in his card to one of the
+chief officials, who kept him waiting two hours, during which the
+captain fumed to see quite a couple of score naval officers go in and
+return, while he was passed over.
+
+"Here you see an epitome of my life during the past fifteen years, Syd,"
+he said, bitterly.  "Always passed over and--"
+
+"His lordship will see you now, if you please," said an official.
+
+"Hah! pretty well time," muttered the captain.  "Come along, Syd."
+
+They followed the clerk along a gloomy passage, and were shown into a
+dark room where a fierce-looking old gentleman in powder and queue sat
+writing, but who laid down his pen and rose as Captain Belton's name was
+announced; shook hands cordially, and then placed his hands upon his
+visitor's shoulders and forced him into an easy-chair.
+
+"Sit down, Harry Belton, sit down," he cried.  "Sorry to keep you
+waiting, but wanted to get rid of all my petitioners and visitors, so as
+to be free for a long talk.  Why, I haven't seen you or heard of you
+these ten years."
+
+"Not for want of my applying for employment, my lord," said Captain
+Belton, stiffly.
+
+"But then I've not been in office, my dear Belton; and, hang it, man,
+don't `my lord' me.  And who's this?"
+
+"My son, my lord," said the captain.
+
+"Don't `my lord' me, man!" cried the old gentleman, fiercely.  "You
+always were a proud, stubborn fellow.  And so this is your son, is it?"
+he continued, peering searchingly in the boy's face.  "Ah! chip of the
+old block; stubborn one too, I can see.  Shake hands, sir.  Now then,
+what are you going to be?"
+
+"A sailor, sir--my lord, I mean."
+
+"Don't correct yourself, boy.  A sailor, eh?  Like your father and
+grandfather before you, eh?  Good; can't do better.  I wish you luck, my
+lad.  We want a school of lads of your class.  The navy's full of
+milksops, and dandies, and fellows who have got their promotion by
+favour, while men like your father, who have done good service and ought
+to be doing it now, instead of idling about as country gentlemen--"
+
+"Not my fault," cried the captain, hotly.  "I've begged for employment
+till I've grown savage, and sworn I would appeal no more."
+
+"Hah! yes," said the old gentleman, sitting back in his chair, and
+holding Syd's hand still in his; "there's a deal of favour and interest
+in these days, my dear Belton.  John Bull's ships ought to be commanded
+by the best men in the navy, but they're not; and those of us who would
+like to do away with all the corruption, can't stir.  Never mind that
+now.  Let's talk of Admiral Tom.  How is the dear old boy?"
+
+"Like I am--growing old and worn with disappointment."
+
+"Nonsense, Belton; nonsense.  We can't shape our own lives.  Better make
+the best of things as they are.  Well, my boy, what ship have you
+joined?"
+
+"None, sir--yet."
+
+"I came up to see Dashleigh, on the strength of his having been under my
+brother, and asked him to take my son."
+
+"And he wouldn't, of course," said the old gentleman, more fiercely
+still.  "Wrong man, my dear sir.  Ladder kicker.  And so, young sir, you
+haven't got a ship?"
+
+"No; and if you could help me, my lord--"
+
+"If you call me my lord again, Harry Belton, I won't stir a peg.--Do you
+know, boy, that I was once in command of a small sloop, and your father
+was my first officer?  I say, Belton, remember those old days?"
+
+"Ay, I do," said the captain, with his eyes lighting up.
+
+"Remember cutting out the Spaniard at Porto Bello?"
+
+"Yes; and the fight with the big vessel in the Gut."
+
+"Ah, to be sure.  How we made the splinters fly!  Bad luck that was for
+those other two to come up.  Rare games we had, my boy.  We must get you
+a ship under some good captain."
+
+"If you could do that for me," said Captain Belton, eagerly.
+
+"Well, I can try and serve an old friend, even if he is a lazy one who
+likes to be in dock instead of being at sea.  By the way, Belton, how
+old are you?"
+
+"Fifty-eight."
+
+"Ah, and I'm seventy.  Plenty of work in me yet, though.  There, I'll
+bear my young friend here in mind.  Come and dine with me one day next
+week, Belton, for I must send you off now; you've had half an hour
+instead of five minutes.  Say Monday--Tuesday."
+
+"Thank you, no," said the captain, rising.  "I've done all I can, and
+will get back home."
+
+"Bah!  You're a bad courtier, Belton.  Stubborn as ever.  You ought to
+hang about here, and sneak and fawn upon me, and jump at the chance of
+dining with me, in the hope that I might be able to help you."
+
+"Yes, my lord, I suppose so," said the captain, sadly; "but if the
+country wants my services it will have to seek me now.  I'm growing too
+old to beg for what is my right."
+
+"And meanwhile our ships are badly handled and go to the bottom, which
+would be a good thing if only their inefficient captains were drowned;
+but it's their crews as well.  There, good-bye, Belton.  Don't come to
+town again without calling on me.  I'll try and serve your boy.  One
+moment--where are you?  Oh yes, I see; I have your card.  Good-bye,
+middy.  Remember me to the admiral."
+
+The fierce-looking old gentleman saw them to the door, and soon after
+father and son were on their way back to the hotel, and the next morning
+on the Southbayton coach.
+
+"Ah, Sydney, lad," said the captain, "we shall have to bind you
+'prentice to a 'pothecary, after all."
+
+"But Lord Claudene said he would try and serve you about me, father; and
+I should be disappointed if I didn't go to sea now."
+
+"Indeed?" said the captain, laughing.  "You will have to bear the
+disappointment.  There are hundreds constantly applying at the
+Admiralty."
+
+"Yes, father, but you are a friend."
+
+"Yes, my boy, I am a friend; and yet what I want I should have to be
+waiting about for years, and then perhaps not succeed."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
+
+"What!" cried Sir Thomas, when he heard the adventures in town, "you
+mean to tell me that Dashleigh treated you as you say?"
+
+"Exactly," replied his brother.
+
+"My face show the marks much now?"
+
+"No; hardly at all."
+
+"Then we'll go up to town to-morrow."
+
+"What for, Tom?" said the captain.  "You'll do no better than I did."
+
+"I'm not going to try, Harry," said the old gentleman, fiercely.
+
+"Then why go?  You are comfortable here."
+
+"I'm going up to horsewhip that contemptible little scoundrel Dashleigh,
+and fight him afterwards, though he's hardly gentleman enough."
+
+"Nonsense, Tom!"
+
+"Nonsense?  Why I made that fellow--and pretty waste of time too!  And
+now he's in command of a seventy-four, and you may go begging for a word
+to get your boy into the midshipmen's berth."
+
+Uncle Tom did not go up to town to horsewhip or fight.
+
+"Never mind," he said, "he's sure to run his ship on the rocks, or get
+thrashed--a scoundrel!  Here, Syd, take my advice."
+
+"What is it, uncle?"
+
+"Never do any one a kind action as long as you live."
+
+"You don't mean it, uncle."
+
+"What, sir?  No, I don't: you're right."
+
+A week passed, during which Barney suggested that the proper thing for
+Captain Belton to do was to purchase some well-built merchant schooner,
+and fit her out as a privateer.
+
+"I could soon get together as smart a crew as you'd care to have, and
+then there'd be a chance for your son to get to be a leefftenant 'fore
+you knew where you were."
+
+But Captain Belton only laughed, and matters at the Heronry remained as
+they were, till one day with the other letters there came one that was
+big and official, and its effect upon the two old officers was striking.
+
+"From the Admiralty, Tom," said the captain, as he glanced at the great
+seal, and then began to take out his knife to slit open the fold.
+
+"I can see that," said the admiral.  "It's from Claudene.  Syd, lad,
+you're in luck.  He has got you appointed to a ship, after all."
+
+"Bless my soul!" cried the captain, dropping the great missive on the
+table.
+
+"What is it, my lad?--what is it?" cried Sir Thomas.
+
+"Read--read," cried Captain Belton, huskily--"it's too good to believe."
+
+Sir Thomas snatched up the official letter, cast his eyes over it, and
+then, forgetting his gout, caught hold of Syd's hands and began to caper
+about the room like a maniac.
+
+"Hurrah!  Bravo, Harry, my lad.  I've often grumbled; but I avow it--I
+am past service, gouty as I am; but you were never more seaworthy."
+
+"Uncle, why don't you speak?" cried Sydney, excitedly.  "Has father got
+a ship?"
+
+"Got a ship, my lad?  He's appointed to one of the smartest in the
+navy--the _Sirius_ frigate, and she's ordered abroad."
+
+Captain Belton drew himself up, and his eyes flashed as in imagination
+he saw himself treading once more the quarter-deck of a smart ship.
+
+"It's too good to believe," he muttered--"too good to believe."
+
+"You haven't read the letter," said his brother, looking wistfully
+across to the tall, eager-looking man before him.
+
+"No," said Captain Belton.  "Hah! from Claudene,"--and he read aloud:--
+
+"My dear Belton, I have managed this for you, and I'm very glad, for you
+will do us credit.  The appointment will clear away the difficulty about
+your boy, for you can have him in your own ship, and keep the young dog
+under your eye.  My good wishes to you, and kind regards to your
+brother.  Tell him I wish I could serve him as well, but I can't see my
+way."
+
+"Of course he can't," said the old admiral, quickly.  "No; I'm too old
+and gouty now.  But as for you, you dog, why don't you stand on your
+head, or shout, or something?  Here, I am well enough to go up to town
+after all.  Syd and I are going to see about his uniform.  The
+_Sirius_--well, you two have luck at last.  Here, hi! you, sir!  Put
+down that confounded birch-broom, and come here."
+
+Uncle Tom had caught sight of Barney at the bottom of the lawn sweeping
+leaves into a heap for his son to lift them between two boards into the
+waiting barrow.
+
+As Barney looked up and saw the admiral signalling from the window, he
+came across the lawn at a trot, dragging the broom after him.
+
+"Drop that broom and salute your officer, you confounded old barnacle!"
+roared the old gentleman.  "Salute, sir, salute: your master's appointed
+to the smartest frigate in the service."
+
+Barney struck an attitude, sent his old cocked hat spinning into the
+air, and then catching it, tucked it under his arm, and pulled his
+imaginary forelock over and over again.
+
+"Good luck to your honour!  I am glad.  When would you like me to be
+ready, sir?  Shall I go on first and begin overhauling?"
+
+"You, Strake?" said the captain, thoughtfully.
+
+"You're not going to leave me behind, sir?  No, no, sir; don't say that,
+sir--don't think it, sir.  I'm as strong and active as ever I was, and a
+deal more tough.  Ask him to take me, Master Syd."
+
+"Take you, Strake?" said the captain again.  "Why, what is to become of
+my garden?"
+
+"Your garden, captain!  What do you want with a garden when you're at
+sea?  Salt tack and biscuit, and a few bags o' 'tatoes about all you
+want aboard ship."
+
+The captain shook his head.
+
+"It's a long time since you were on active service, Strake."
+
+"Active sarvice, captain!  Why, I was on active sarvice when the admiral
+hailed me; and, I tell you, I never felt more fit for work in my life.
+Course I'd like to be your bo'sun, captain, but don't you stand 'bout
+that.  You take me, and I'll sarve you afore the mast as good and true
+as if I was warrant officer once more.  You've knowed me a lot o' years,
+Sir Thomas; say a good word for me."
+
+"I'll say you're a good fellow, Strake, and a first-class sailor," said
+the admiral.
+
+"For which I thank ye kindly, sir.  But you don't say a word for a man,
+Master Syd.  I know I've cut up rough with you, sir, often over plums
+and chyce pears as I wanted to save for the dessart, but my 'art's been
+allus right for you, my lad, and never a bit o' sorrow till I see you
+flying in the master's face and not wantin' to sarve the King.  You
+won't bear malice, sir, and 'atred in yer 'art.  Say a good word."
+
+"Yes, Barney.  Do take him, father."
+
+"It is a question of duty and of the man's ability.  Look here, Strake,
+if I say no, it's because I fear that you would not be smart enough at
+your age.  It is not a question of the will to serve."
+
+"I should think not, sir.  Why, you won't have a man of your crew more
+willing to sarve you right."
+
+"I know that; but the activity and smartness?"
+
+"Activity, sir?  Why, I'm as light as a feather, sir, and I'd run up the
+ratlines and away aloft and clap my hand on the main-truck long afore
+some o' your youngsters."
+
+"Well, Strake, I'll take you."
+
+"Why--"
+
+"Stop a moment.  It must be with the understanding that you undertake
+anything I set you to do, for there may be a good boatswain aboard."
+
+"Right, sir; any thing's my work.  I'll see about my kit at once."
+
+"Syd, you shall go with me, unless you would like to wait for a chance
+on another ship."
+
+"No, father, I'll go with you," cried Syd.  "And what about Pan?"
+
+"He can come," said the captain.  "Now leave me with your uncle, I want
+to talk to him at once."
+
+A complete change seemed to have come over Barney as he made for the
+open window, not walking as usual, but in a light trot upon his toes, as
+if he were once more on the deck of a ship; and as soon as he was in the
+garden and out of sight of the window, he folded his arms and began to
+evince his delight by breaking into the first few steps of a hornpipe.
+
+He was just in the middle of it when Pan came silently up behind with a
+board in each hand, to stand gazing from Syd to his father and back
+again in speechless wonderment, and evidently fully believing that the
+old man had gone mad.
+
+All at once Barney was finishing off his dance with a curve round on his
+heels, but this brought him face to face with his wide-eyed, staring
+son.
+
+The effect was instantaneous.  He stopped short in a peculiar attitude,
+feeling quite abashed at being found so engaged, and Syd could hardly
+contain his laughter at the way in which the old boatswain got out of
+his difficulty.
+
+"What now, you ugly young swab!" he roared.  "Never see a sailor of the
+ryle navy stretch his legs afore?"
+
+"Is that how sailors stretches their legs?" said Pan, slowly.
+
+"Yes, it be.  Now then, what have you got to say to that?"
+
+"You arn't a sailor, father."
+
+"What?  Hear him, Master Syd?  That's just what I am, boy, and you too.
+We're all on us outward bound; and now you come along, and I'll just
+show you something with a rope's-end."
+
+"Why, I aren't been doing nothing now," cried Pan, drawing back.
+
+"Who said you had, you swab!  Heave ahead.  Stow talking and get that
+there rope.  I'm going to give you your first lesson in knotting and
+splicing.  Ah, you've got something to larn now, my lad.  Go and run
+that there barrow and them tools into the shed.  No more gardening.
+Come on into the yard, Master Syd, and we'll rig up that there big pole,
+and a yard across it, and I'll show you both how to lay out with your
+feet in the sturrup.  Come on."
+
+"But, Master Syd, father isn't going to sea again, is he?"
+
+"Yes, Pan, we're all off to join a fine frigate."
+
+"And make men on you both," cried Barney.  "Lor', it's a wonder to me
+how I've managed to live this 'long-shore life so long.  Come on, my
+lads.  No, no, don't walk like that.  Think as you've got a deck under
+your feet, and run along like this."
+
+Barney set the example, and Syd laughed again, for the gardener seemed
+to have gone back ten years of big life, and trotted along as active as
+a boy.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
+
+"Have they come, Syd, lad?" said the admiral, as the boy walked into the
+private room of the Red Lion, Shoreport, where the old man had taken up
+his quarters for the past fortnight, and had spent his time down at the
+docks, where the _Sirius_ was being overhauled in her rigging, and was
+getting in her stores and ammunition ready for her start to the West
+Indian station in another week's time.
+
+The coach had not long come in, and on hearing the horn the old sailor,
+with a twinkle in his eye, had sent the lad to do exactly what he
+wanted, but would have shrunk from for fear of seeming particular.
+
+"Yes, uncle," he said quietly, "a box has come."
+
+"Well, well, where is it?"
+
+"I told him to put it in my bedroom."
+
+"Well, why don't you go and open it, and see if your outfit is all
+right?"
+
+"Oh, there's plenty of time, uncle," said Syd, with assumed
+carelessness.
+
+"Yah! get out, you miserable young humbug.  Think I was never a boy
+myself, and don't know what it means.  You're red-hot to go and look at
+your duds.  There, be off and put on your full-dress uniform, and then
+come down and let's see."
+
+"Put them on, uncle, now?"
+
+"Yes; put them on now," cried the old man, imitating his nephew's voice
+and manner.  "Yes, put them on--now.  Not ashamed of the King's livery,
+are you?"
+
+"No, sir, of course not."
+
+"Then go and put them on, and don't come down with your cocked hat wrong
+way on."
+
+Syd hesitated, feeling a little abashed, but his uncle half jumped out
+of his seat.
+
+"Be off, you disobedient young dog," he roared.  "If you don't want to
+see them, I do.  There, I'll give you a quarter of an hour."
+
+Sydney took half an hour, and then hesitated about going down-stairs.
+He peeped out of his room twice, but there was always some one on the
+stairs, chambermaid, waiter, or guest staying in the place.
+
+At last, though, all seemed perfectly quiet, and fixing his cocked hat
+tightly on his head, and holding his dirk with one hand to keep it from
+swinging about and striking the balusters, he ran along the passage and
+dashed down the stairs.
+
+The quick movement caused his cocked hat to come down in front over his
+eyes, and before he had raised it again he had run right into the arms
+of the stout landlady.  There was a shrill scream, and the lady was
+seated on the mat, while by the force of the rebound Sydney was sitting
+on the stairs, from which post he sprang up to offer his apologies.
+
+"You shouldn't, my dear," said the landlady, piteously, as she stretched
+out her hands like a gigantic baby who wanted to be helped up.
+
+Sydney's instincts prompted him to rush on to his father's small
+sitting-room, but politeness and the appeal of the lady compelled him to
+stay; and after he had raised her to her proper perpendicular, she
+smiled and cast her eyes over his uniform, making the boy colour like a
+girl.
+
+"Well, you do look nice," she said; "only don't knock me down again.
+There, I'm not hurt.  They're quite new, ain't they?"
+
+Sydney nodded.
+
+"I thought so, because you haven't got them on quite right."
+
+Sydney stopped to hear no more, but ran on, checked himself, and tried
+to walk past three waiters in the entry with dignity.
+
+He did not achieve this, because if he had the waiters would not have
+laughed and put their napkins to their mouths, on drawing back to let
+him pass.
+
+"Oh, shouldn't I like to!" he thought, as he set his teeth and clenched
+his fists.
+
+He felt very miserable and as if he was being made a laughing-stock; in
+fact his sensations were exactly those of a sensitive lad who appears in
+uniform for the first time; and hence he was in anything but a peaceful
+state of mind as he dashed into the room where his uncle was waiting, to
+be greeted with a roar of laughter.
+
+"What a time you have been, sir!  Why, Syd, I don't think much of your
+legs, and, hang it all, your belt's too loose, and they don't fit you.
+Bah! you haven't half dressed yourself.  Come here.  Takes me back fifty
+years, boy, to see you like that."
+
+"Why did you tell me to go and put them on?" cried the boy, angrily, "if
+you only meant to laugh at me?"
+
+"Bah! nonsense!  What do you mean, sir?  Are you going to be so
+thin-skinned that you can't bear to be joked?  Come here."
+
+The boy stood by his side.
+
+"I was going to show you how to take up your belt and to button your
+waistcoat.  There! that's better.  Flying out like that at me because I
+laughed!  How will you get along among your messmates, who are sure to
+begin roasting you as soon as you go aboard?"
+
+"I beg your pardon, uncle.  I seemed to feel so ridiculous, and
+everybody laughed."
+
+"Let them.  There! that's better.  See how a touch or two from one who
+knows turns a slovenly look into one that's smart.  Hallo! some one at
+the door, my lad; go and see.  No; stop.  Come in."
+
+The door was opened, and Barney in his uniform of petty officer entered,
+looking smartened up into a man ten years younger than when he worked in
+the garden at the Heronry.
+
+As Barney took off his hat and entered, closing the door behind him, his
+eyes lit first upon Syd, and his face puckered up into a broad grin.
+
+"And now you!" cried Sydney, angrily.  "Uncle, I'm not fit to wear a
+uniform; I look ridiculous."
+
+"Who says so?" cried the old man, angrily.  "Here you, Strake, don't
+stand grinning there like a corbel on an old church."
+
+"Couldn't help it, your honour."
+
+"There, you see, uncle."
+
+"I don't, sir.  Going to let the grin of that confounded fellow upset
+you?  If he laughs at you again because he thinks you are a fool, show
+him that you're not one; knock him down."
+
+"His honour the captain's compliments, Sir Thomas, and he'd be glad to
+see you on board along o' Master Sydney here."
+
+"Is your master on board, then?"
+
+"Ay, sir; and I've come across in the gig, as is waiting for us with one
+of the young gentlemen to keep the men in their places."
+
+"Right; we'll come," said the old admiral.  "Now, Syd," he whispered,
+"do you know why people laugh?"
+
+"Yes, uncle, at me."
+
+"Well, yes, my lad; so they did at me years ago.  But you don't know
+why."
+
+"I think I do, uncle."
+
+"No, boy, you do not; you look as if you had got on your uniform for the
+first time.  We're going out now, so look as if you hadn't got it on for
+the first time.  Hold up your head, cock your hat, and if you look at
+people, don't look as if you were wondering what they thought of you,
+but as if you were taking his weight.  See?"
+
+"Yes, uncle, I think I do.  But must I go like this?"
+
+"Confound you, sir!" growled the old man.  "Why do you talk like that?"
+
+"Because I look absurd."
+
+"Oh, that's it, is it?  Then look here, Syd, I'll prove that you don't."
+
+"If you can prove that, uncle, I shall never mind wearing a uniform
+again."
+
+"Then you need not mind, boy, for if you looked absurd I wouldn't be
+seen with you.  Now then, hold up your head, and remember you are a
+king's officer.  March!"
+
+The old man gave his cane a thump, cocked his own hat, and stamped along
+by the side of his nephew.  Pan, who was outside waiting for his
+father's return, staring wide-eyed at Sydney's uniform, and then
+following behind with Barney, wishing he was allowed to wear a little
+gilded sword like that.
+
+In this way they walked down to the boat, which lay a short distance
+from the landing-place, with a handsome boy in middy's uniform leaning
+back in the stern-sheets, and keeping strict watch on his men to keep
+them from yielding to the attraction of one of the public-houses,
+stronger than that of duty.
+
+Barney stepped forward and hailed the boat, which was quickly rowed
+alongside, the coxswain holding on as the admiral stepped in, followed
+by his nephew, who found himself directly after beside the good-looking,
+dark-complexioned middy, who took the helm, and gave the order to give
+way.  The oars fell with a splash, and Sydney felt that he was at last
+afloat and on his way to join the frigate.
+
+The admiral took snuff, and after a word or two with the middy in charge
+of the boat, sat gazing silently about him, while from time to time
+Sydney turned his eyes to find that his companion was examining him
+closely, and with a supercilious air which made the new addition to the
+midshipmen's mess feel irritable and ready to resent any insult.
+
+But none was offered, and the men rowed on, till after threading their
+way through quite a forest of masts the frigate was sighted.
+
+"There she lies, Syd," whispered his uncle; "as fine a craft as you need
+wish to see.  What's your name, youngster?"
+
+"Michael Terry," said the midshipman.
+
+"Ho!" ejaculated the admiral.  "Well, this is my nephew, Sydney Belton,
+your new messmate.  I hope you'll be very good friends."
+
+"I'm sure we shan't," said the young fellow to himself.  "Too cocky for
+me.  But we can soon cut his comb."
+
+"Arn't you going to shake hands, youngsters?"
+
+"Oh, yes, if you like," said the youth.  "There's my hand."
+
+Sydney put out his, but somehow the hand-shake which followed did not
+seem to be a friendly one, and more than once afterwards he thought
+about that first grip.
+
+"Ah, that's right," said the admiral; "always be good friends with your
+messmates."
+
+Syd looked up quickly, and a feeling of angry resentment made his cheeks
+flush, for his eyes encountered those of the midshipman, and being
+exceedingly sensitive that day, it seemed to him that Terry was laughing
+in his sleeve at Sir Thomas.
+
+Syd's eyes flashed, and the young officer stared at him haughtily in
+return, his glance seeming to say, "Well, I shall laugh at the
+comical-looking old boy if I like."
+
+The eye encounter which had commenced was checked by Sir Thomas suddenly
+turning to his nephew.
+
+"There's your ship, boy," he said, "and I wish you luck in her."
+
+Syd looked in the direction pointed out, to see the long, graceful
+vessel lying at anchor with quite a swarm of men busy aloft bending on
+new sails, renewing the running-rigging, and repairing the damages
+caused her in a severe encounter with a storm.  And as he gazed with an
+unpleasant feeling of shrinking troubling him, the boat rapidly neared
+the side, the oars were thrown up, the coxswain deftly manoeuvred the
+stern close to the ladder, held on, and Sir Thomas rose and went up the
+side with an activity that seemed wonderful for his years.
+
+Then with a sensation of singing in his ears, and confused and puzzled
+by the novelty of all around, Sydney Belton somehow found himself
+standing on deck facing his father, who came forward to meet the
+admiral, then gave him a nod and a look which took in his uniform before
+he went aft, leaving the new-comer standing alone and feeling horribly
+strange, and in everybody's way.
+
+For the boat's crew were busy making fast the gig in which they had come
+aboard, and Syd had to move three times, each position he took up
+seeming to be worse.
+
+He wanted to go after Sir Thomas, but did not like to stir, and he felt
+all the more uncomfortable as he noticed that people kept looking at
+him, and talking to one another about him, he felt sure.
+
+"Where can Barney be gone?" he muttered, angrily.  "How stupid to leave
+me standing dressed up like this for every one to stare at!  Father
+ought to have stopped."
+
+He gave a furtive glance to the left, and the blood flushed in his
+cheeks again as he caught sight of Terry, who was talking to another lad
+of his own age in uniform, and Syd felt that they must be talking about
+him; and if he had felt any doubt before, their action would have
+endorsed his opinion, for they smiled at one another and walked away.
+
+"It's too bad," he said to himself; "they must know how horribly strange
+I feel."
+
+"Hullo, squire!  Who are you?"
+
+Syd turned round to face the speaker, for the words had, as it were,
+been barked almost into his ear, and he had heard no one approach, for
+it had seemed to be one of the peculiarities of aboard ship that people
+passed to and fro and by him without making a sound.
+
+He found himself facing a stern, middle-aged man in uniform, who looked
+him over at a glance, and Syd flinched again, for the officer smiled
+slightly, not a pleasant smile, for it seemed as if he were going to
+bite.
+
+"I am Sydney Belton, sir."
+
+"Eh?  Oh, the captain's boy.  Yes, of course.  In full rig, eh?  Well,
+why don't you go below?  You look so strange."
+
+"Does he mean in uniform?" thought Syd.
+
+"Yes, sir," he said aloud.  "My father has gone down there."
+
+"Aft, boy, aft; don't say down there.  Well, why don't you go below?
+Seen your messmates?"
+
+"I have seen the young officer who came with us in the boat."
+
+"Eh?  Who was that?  Yes, I remember.  Well, he ought to have taken you
+down.  Here, Mr Terry, Mr Roylance--oh, there you are!--take Mr
+Belton down and introduce him to his messmates; and, I say, youngster--
+no, never mind now.  Look sharp and learn your duties.  Hi! you sirs,
+what are you doing with that yard?" he yelled out to some men up aloft,
+and he walked nimbly away just as the two midshipmen joined Syd.
+
+"Thought, as you were the captain's son, you might be going to have your
+quarters in the cabin," said Terry, with a sneering look in his face.
+"Be better there, wouldn't he, Roy?"
+
+"I should think so," said the other, looking at the new-comer
+quizzically.
+
+"My father said I should have to be with the other midshipmen," said
+Syd, quickly.
+
+"With the midshipmen, not the _other_ midshipmen," said Terry, with a
+sneer.  "You are not a midshipman, are you?"
+
+"I suppose I am going to be one when I have learned how," replied
+Sydney, shortly.  "My father said that I was not to expect any favours
+because I was the captain's son."
+
+"Did he now?" said Roylance; "and what did your mother say?"
+
+Syd winced, and looked so sharply at the speaker that the latter
+pretended to be startled.
+
+"Wo ho!" he cried.  "I say, Terry, this chap's a fire-eater; a bit
+wild."
+
+"Here, come along down, youngster.  Don't banter him, Hoy," said Terry,
+who had noticed that the officer who had given the order was coming
+back, and he led the way toward the companion-ladder.
+
+"Who's that gentleman in uniform?" said Sydney.  "Eh?  That one?" said
+Terry, looking in another direction.  "Oh, that's the purser.  You'll
+have to be very civil to him--ask him to dinner and that sort of thing."
+
+"No, no, I wouldn't do that at first," said Roylance, as they descended.
+"Ask him to have a glass of grog with you."
+
+"Yes," said Terry.  "Get to the dinner by and by.  Pray how old are
+you?"
+
+"Between sixteen and seventeen," replied Sydney, who writhed under his
+companion's supercilious ways, but was determined to make friends if he
+could.
+
+"Are you though?" said Roylance.  "Fine boy for his age; eh, Mike?"
+
+"Very.  Mind your head, youngster.  We're going to have all this
+properly lighted now, I suppose.  Our last captain did not give much
+thought to the 'tween decks.  By the way, the young gentlemen of our
+mess are a bit particular.  He ought to show to the best advantage, eh,
+Roy, and make a good impression."
+
+"Yes, of course."
+
+"Perhaps," continued Terry, turning to Syd, "you'd like to see the
+ship's barber and have a shave before we go in."
+
+"No, thank you," said Syd, laughing, "I don't shave."
+
+"Remarkable," said Roylance.
+
+"Don't banter, Roy," cried Terry.  "The young gentleman is strange, and
+you take advantage, and begin to be funny.  Don't you take any notice of
+him.  By the way though, I didn't introduce you.  This is Mr William
+Roylance, Esquire.  Father's not a captain, but a bishop, priest, or
+deacon, or something of that kind.  Very good young man, but don't you
+lend him money!  I say, see that door?"
+
+"Yes," said Sydney, looking at a dimly-seen opening barely lit by a
+smoky lanthorn.
+
+"Thought I'd show you.  Hot water baths in there if you ever wash."
+
+"Ever wash?" said Syd, wonderingly.
+
+"Yes.  We do here--a little--when there is any water.  Rather particular
+on board a frigate.  Here we are."
+
+He led the way to where in a dimly-lit hole, so it seemed to Sydney,
+about half a dozen youths were seated beneath a swinging lanthorn busily
+engaged in some game, which consisted in driving a penny-piece along a
+dirty wooden table, scoured with lines and spotted with blackened drops
+of tallow.
+
+The coming, as it seemed, of a visitor, in all the neatness and show of
+a spick and span new uniform, caused a cessation of the game and its
+accompanying noise; but before a word was spoken, Sydney had taken in at
+a glance the dingy aspect of the place, and had time to consider whether
+this was the midshipmen's berth.
+
+"Here you are, gentlemen," shouted Terry.  "Your new messmate: the boy
+with a belt on."
+
+"Let him take it off then," cried a voice.  "Come on, youngster, here's
+room.  Got any money?"
+
+Syd thought of his new uniform and felt disposed to shrink, but he did
+not hesitate.  He had an idea that if he was to share the mess of the
+lads about him, the sooner he was on friendly terms the better, so he
+nodded and went forward; but his pace was increased by a sudden thrust
+from behind, which sent him against the end of the table, and his hat
+flying to the other side.
+
+"Shame! shame!" cried Terry, loudly, and there was a roar of laughter.
+"Look here, Roy, I won't have it; it's too bad.  Not hurt, are you,
+Belton?"
+
+"No," said Syd, turning and looking him full in the face; "only a little
+to find you should think me such a fool as not to know you pushed me."
+
+"I?  Come, young fellow, you'll have to learn manners."
+
+He moved threateningly toward Syd, but the latter did not heed him, for
+his attention was taken up by what was going on at the table, for one of
+the lads cried out--
+
+"Any one want a new hat?  Too big for me."
+
+"Let me try."
+
+"No; pass it here."
+
+"Get out, I want one most."
+
+There was a roar of laughter, and Syd bit his lip as he saw his new hat
+snatched about from one to the other, and tried on in all sorts of ways,
+back front, amidships, over the eyes, over the ears, and it was by no
+means improved when the new hand snatched it back and turned to face
+Terry.
+
+"Look here, sir," said the latter, haughtily; "you had the insolence to
+accuse me of having pushed you."
+
+There was a dead silence as Sydney stood brushing his hat with the
+sleeve of his coat, and without shrinking, for there was a curious
+ebullition going on in his breast.  He did not look up, for he was
+fighting--self, and thinking about his new uniform in a peculiar way.
+That is to say, in connection with dirty floors, scuffles, falls, the
+dragging about of rough hands, etcetera.
+
+"Do you hear what I say, sir?" continued Terry, loudly, and every neck
+was craned forward in the dim cockpit.
+
+"Yes, I heard what you said," replied Syd, huskily; and then he bit his
+lip and tried to force down the feeling of rage which was in his breast.
+
+"And I heard what you said, sir," cried Terry, ruffling up like a
+game-cock, and thinking to awe the new reefer and impress the lads
+present, over whom he ruled with a mighty hand.  "You are amongst
+gentlemen here, and we don't allow new greenhorns or country bumpkins to
+come and insult us."
+
+"I don't want to insult anybody," said Syd, in a low tone.  "I want to
+be friends, as my father told me to be."
+
+"But you insulted me, sir.  You said I pushed you just now."
+
+"So you did," cried Sydney, a little more loudly.
+
+"What?" cried Terry, threateningly.
+
+"And then shammed that it was that other middy."
+
+A murmur of excitement ran round the mess.
+
+"Why, you insolent young cub," cried Terry, seizing Sydney by the collar
+of his coat; but quick as thought his hand was struck aside, and the two
+lads were chest to chest, glaring in each other's eyes.
+
+"Oh, that's it, is it?" cried Terry, with a mocking laugh.  "Well, the
+sooner he has his plateful of humble-pie the better; eh, lads?"
+
+The murmur of excitement increased.
+
+"Then I shall have to fight," thought Syd; but at that moment a gruff
+voice exclaimed--
+
+"Cap'en wants you, Master Syd.  Admiral's going ashore."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
+
+"Why, what was up, sir?" whispered Barney, whose timely appearance put
+an end to the discussion.  "Wasn't going to be a fight, weer it?"
+
+"I suppose so, Barney," said Syd, rather dolefully.
+
+"Then it'll have to be yet, lad; but it's a bit early."
+
+"Yes, Barney."
+
+"They didn't lose no time in 'tackling on yer."
+
+"No, Barney."
+
+"Well, lad, it's part of a reefer's eddication, so you'll have to go
+through with it.  You're a toughish chickin as can whack my Pan; and he
+knows how to fight, as lots o' the big lads knows at home."
+
+"I don't want to fight," said Sydney, bitterly.
+
+"No, my lad, but you've got to now.  Well, that there's a big un, and
+he'll lick you safe; but you give him a tough job to do it, and then all
+t'others 'll let you alone."
+
+"Well, Syd, lad; seen your new messmates?" cried a cheery voice.
+
+"Yes, uncle, I've seen them."
+
+"That's right, boy.  I'm going ashore now.  I'm proud of your ship, Syd,
+proud of the crew, and proud of you, my lad.  Keep your head up, and may
+I live to see you posted.  No, that's too much, but I must see you wear
+your first swab."
+
+"Am I to go ashore with uncle, father?" said Sydney.
+
+"Hush, my boy, once for all," said Captain Belton.  "You are a junior
+officer now; I am your captain.  We must keep our home life for home.
+No, Mr Belton, you will not go ashore again.  You have joined your
+ship, and your chest will be brought on board by the boatswain."
+
+"Is Barney going to be a boatswain, sir?" cried Sydney, in his
+eagerness.
+
+Captain Belton gave him a look which said plainly enough, "Remember that
+I am your captain, sir!"
+
+And feeling abashed, the boy looked in another direction, to see that
+Barney was winking and screwing up his face in the most wonderful way to
+convey certain information of the fact that in his inexperience Sydney
+had not read in his uniform.
+
+"There, good-bye, Syd," said the old admiral, after a few minutes' more
+conversation with the captain, during which time the boat's crew had
+been piped away, and Terry had hurried on deck to take charge once more.
+Then there was a warm grasp of the hand as the old man leaned toward
+him, his words seeming the more impressive after what had just occurred.
+
+"God bless you, my lad!" he whispered.  "You'll get some hard knocks;
+perhaps it'll come to a fight among your messmates, but if it does,
+don't have your comb cut.  Recollect you're a Belton, and never strike
+your colours.  Always be a gentleman, Syd, and never let any young
+blackguard with a dirty mind lead you into doing anything you couldn't
+own to openly.  There, that's all, my boy.  Drop the father, and never
+go to him with tales; he has to treat you middies all alike.  There!
+Oh, one word; don't bounce and show off among your messmates, because
+your father's the captain, and you've got an old hulk at home who is an
+admiral; but whenever you want a few guineas to enjoy yourself, Uncle
+Tom's your banker, you dog.  There!  Be off!"
+
+Syd tried hard, but his eyes would get a little dim as the bluff old
+gentleman touched his hat to the officers, and went over the side, while
+the captain put his hands behind him and walked thoughtfully aft, to
+have a long consultation with the first lieutenant, after which he too
+went ashore without seeing his son again, and Sydney prepared for his
+first night on board.
+
+There was so much that was novel that the new middy had no time to feel
+dull, and he spent his time on deck, watching the return of the boat,
+saw it swung up to its davits again, and then, after noting the marines
+relieve guard, and the sentries at their posts, he was going forward,
+when he encountered the officer who had before spoken to him.
+
+"Got your traps on board yet, Mr Belton?"
+
+"Not yet, sir.  My chest is coming to-night."
+
+"That's right.  You'll be in a different fig then to-morrow, and I'll
+have a talk to you.  Better pick up what you can from your messmates,
+but don't quarrel, and don't believe everything they tell you."
+
+He nodded not unkindly to the boy, and went off, while Barney, who had
+been watching his opportunity, came up and touched his hat.
+
+"Your chest's come aboard, sir, and I've had it put below.  Better keep
+it locked, my lad, for you'll find my young gents pretty handy with
+their games."
+
+"Thank you, Barney."
+
+"Say Strake, sir, please now, or bo'sun."
+
+"Very well, Strake.  Where is Pan?"
+
+"Right, sir.  Forrard along with the other boys.  Getting his roasting
+over.  What yer think o' the first luff?"
+
+"I haven't seen him yet, Bar--Strake."
+
+"Oh, come now, sir; speak the truth whatever you do, and don't try those
+games on me.  Why, I sin yer talking to him."
+
+"That?" said Sydney, smiling, as one who knows better smiles at the
+ignorant.  "Why, Strake, that was the purser."
+
+"Poof!" ejaculated the boatswain, with a smothered laugh.  "Who told you
+that, sir?"
+
+"That midshipman who brought us off in the boat."
+
+"A flam, sir, a flam.  He was making game of you.  That's the first
+luff."
+
+"What a shame!" thought Syd, and then he fell a thinking about the
+orders he gave him--not to quarrel with his messmates.  "And I'm sure to
+quarrel as soon as I go down.  No, I will not.  He may say what he
+likes."
+
+"You speak, sir?" said the bo'sun.
+
+"No, Strake, I was thinking."
+
+"Here, you're wanted below, I think," said one of the warrant officers,
+coming up and speaking to the ex-gardener.
+
+"Who wants me?"
+
+"That's your boy, isn't it, that you brought aboard?"
+
+"Ay, it is."
+
+"Well, I think he has got into a bit of a row with some of the young
+monkeys below.  Go and stop it at once."
+
+"That's Pan-y-mar gone and showed his teeth, Master Syd," whispered the
+bo'sun, and he trotted forward, while feeling now that he ought to go
+and see about his chest, and at the same time wishing that he could go
+forward and see what was wrong about Pan--but fearing to make some
+breach of discipline--Sydney once more went below.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
+
+It was impossible to help thinking about the handsome old dining-room at
+the Heronry as Sydney sat down to his first meal at the midshipman's
+mess, and however willing he might have been to consider that polished
+mahogany tables and plate were not necessaries, he could not help
+comparing the food with that to which he had been accustomed.
+
+As luck had it, he found himself seated next to Roylance, who laughed
+good-humouredly, and said--
+
+"Don't take any notice of the rough joking, youngster."
+
+He was not above a year older than Sydney, but he had been two years at
+sea, and seemed to look down from a height of experience at his
+companion.
+
+"I am not going to," said Sydney, looking up frankly to the other's
+handsome face.
+
+"That's right.  Terry's cock of the walk here, and shows off a good
+deal.  We all give in to him, so be civil too, and it will save a row.
+The luff doesn't like us to quarrel."
+
+"He told me not to," said Syd.
+
+"Then I wouldn't.  If Terry gives you a punch on the head, take it, and
+never mind."
+
+Syd was silent.
+
+"Got your chest, haven't you?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Everything's new, awkward, and fresh to you now, but you'll soon get
+used to it.  You'll put on your undress uniform to-morrow, of course.
+I'll tell you anything you want to know.  Nobody told me when I came on
+board, and I had a hard time of it."
+
+"Did the others tease you much?"
+
+"They did and no mistake, and I got it worse because I kicked against
+it; and the _more_ a fellow kicks, the more they worry you."
+
+These few friendly advances from a messmate who seemed to be one of the
+most likely-looking for a companion, sent a feeling of warmth through
+the new-comer's breast, and in spite of the coarseness of the
+provisions, which were eked out with odds and ends brought by the
+middies from the shore, Sydney made a fairly satisfactory meal, the
+better that Terry was on duty.
+
+"But I've got to meet him some time," thought Sydney; and he wondered
+how he would feel when he received that blow which was sure to come, and
+stamp him as one of the subordinates of the lad whom his new friend had
+dubbed the cock of the walk.
+
+In spite of the novelty of everything about him, Syd had plenty of time
+to feel low-spirited, and to envy the light-heartedness of his new
+friend, who in the course of the evening seemed to feel that further
+apology was due for their first encounter that day.
+
+"I say, Belton," he said, "I am sorry I played you those tricks and
+sided with Terry as I did.  It was all meant for a game.  We have such a
+rough, uncomfortable life here that one gets into the habit of making
+fun of everything and everybody, from the captain downwards."
+
+"Don't say any more about it," replied Sydney, holding out his hand.
+"I'm not such a milksop that I mind it."
+
+"That's right," cried Roylance, grasping the extended hand.  "You'll
+soon be all right with us."
+
+"Hi! look there," cried a squeaky-voiced little fellow at the end of the
+table; "there's old Roy making friends with the new fellow.  I say,
+Belt, don't you believe him.  He'll want to borrow money to-morrow."
+
+_Bang_!
+
+"No, you didn't," cried the little middy, who had ducked cleverly and
+avoided half a loaf which Roylance threw at his head and struck the
+bulkhead instead.
+
+"You'll have to be stopped, Jenkins," said Roylance.  "You've got off so
+far because you are such a miserable little beggar."
+
+"Don't you believe him, Belt," cried the little fellow, who had a
+withered, old-mannish look, and an exceedingly small nose, like a peg in
+the middle of his face.  "Roy's afraid of me.  Look at that."
+
+He slipped off his coat, drew up his sleeve, and exhibited his muscle in
+a pugnacious fashion, which brought forth a roar of laughter.
+
+"Baby Jenks fights best with his tongue," said Roylance, coolly.  "We
+shall have to cut it before he grows civil."
+
+The rattle of the chattering tongues went on till bedtime, and at last,
+for the first time in his life, Sydney found himself lying in a hammock,
+tired out but confused, and hardly able to realise that he was down
+below in a close place, with his face not many inches from the ceiling
+with its beams and rings.  Talking was going on upon each side.  The
+place was very dark, and there was a dim-looking lantern swinging some
+distance away in the middle of what seemed to be a luminous fog.
+
+He lay there thinking that the hammock was not so very uncomfortable,
+only he did not feel quite at home with his head and heels high, and as
+every time he moved he felt as if he must fall, he at last lay very
+still, thinking how strange it all was, and how he seemed to be
+completely separated from his father, as much so as if they were in
+different ships.
+
+Then after coming to the conclusion that he rather liked Roylance, but
+that he should never care for life aboard ship, the light from the
+lanthorn swung to and fro a little, and then all was perfectly black
+where it had hung the minute before.
+
+This did not trouble Syd, for it seemed quite a matter of course that
+the light should be put out, and so he lay thinking over all that had
+passed that day--that he was glad Barney Strake and Pan were on board;
+that Roy lance seemed to be so friendly; then that he should have to
+stand up and meet Terry before very long and allow himself to be
+thrashed.  Then he thought about nothing at all, for that pleasant,
+restful sensation that precedes sleep came over him, and all was blank
+till he felt a curious shock and was wide-awake.
+
+"Here, hi!  What's the matter?" shouted a squeaky voice.
+
+"I--I don't know," said Sydney, feeling about him and gradually
+realising that he was on the floor among his blankets.  "I think the
+rope of my hammock has broken."
+
+There was an outburst of tittering at this, and now it began to dawn
+upon him that he was the victim of some trick.
+
+"Look here, you fellows," said a voice which Sydney recognised; "the
+first luff said there was to be no more of these games.  Who did it?"
+
+"Baby Jenks," said a voice, and there was a laugh.
+
+"I didn't," squeaked the little middy; "it was one of Roy's games."
+
+"Say it was me again, and I'll come and half smother you."
+
+"Well, they said it was me," protested Jenkins.  "I was asleep."
+
+"Who was it?" cried Roylance again.
+
+"Captain Belton, to make his boy sharp," said a voice out of the
+darkness--a voice evidently disguised by being uttered through a pair of
+half-closed hands.
+
+There was a hearty laugh here, during which, feeling very miserable and
+dejected, Syd was groping about, trying to find out how the hammock was
+fastened, and in the darkness growing only more confused.
+
+"Where are you?" said Roylance.
+
+"Here.  It's come untied, I think."
+
+"Untied!  You've been cut down."
+
+"Cut?" said Sydney, wonderingly.
+
+"Down.  Never mind.  It was only at your feet.  I'll soon put you right
+again."
+
+Syd stood there listening to his companions' hard breathing and the
+whispering and tittering going on in the other hammocks for a few
+minutes, during which a noise went on like as if a box was being corded.
+At last this ceased.
+
+"There you are!  Where are your blankets?"
+
+"Here; but they're all in a dreadful muddle."
+
+There was a shout of laughter at this, and directly after Sydney heard a
+gruff voice say--
+
+"Steady there, young gen'lemen.  Anything the matter?"
+
+"No; it's all right.  Only some one tumbled out of bed."
+
+There was a low grumbling sound, and Roylance whispered--
+
+"Never mind; I'll put 'em right for you.  There you are; turn in, and I
+don't suppose any one will upset you after to-night.  If anybody comes,
+and you hear him, hit out."
+
+"Thank you," said Syd, rather dolefully; "I will."
+
+He climbed into his hammock again, and listened to the rustling sound
+made by Roylance and the remarks of his messmates.
+
+"Baby Jenks was right.  Old Roy means to suck every shilling out of the
+new fellow," said a voice.
+
+"Does he, Bolton?" cried Roylance.  "I know your voice."
+
+"Why, I never spoke.  'Twasn't me," cried the accused.
+
+"Well, it sounded like you," grumbled Roylance, and there was another
+roar of laughter.
+
+"Look here, youngsters, I want to go to sleep, and I'll come and cut
+down the next fellow who makes a row."
+
+"Yah!"
+
+"Boo!"
+
+"Daren't!"
+
+These ejaculations came tauntingly from different parts, but in
+smothered tones, which indicated that the voices were disguised, and
+after a few more threats from Roylance, there was perfect quiet once
+more in the berth.
+
+"So I'm not to sleep," thought Sydney, "but keep guard and wait for
+whoever it was that cut the cords of my hammock.  A nasty cowardly
+trick."
+
+The fall and its following had so thoroughly roused up the sufferer that
+he felt not the slightest inclination to sleep, and feeling that he
+could easily keep awake and hear any one approach, he lay listening to
+the hard breathing on both sides till all grew more and more subdued;
+and though it was pitch dark the surroundings grew misty and strange,
+and Syd lay listening to a strange sound which made him turn his head in
+the direction of the door, towards where he could see a sturdily-built
+young fellow down on his hands and knees, crawling in as easily as a
+dog.  Now he peered to one side, now to the other.  Then he ran on all
+fours under the hammocks, which seemed to stand out quite clearly with
+their occupants therein.  Then his head appeared, and it seemed, though
+he could not make out the face, that it was Terry.  But the head
+disappeared again, and as Syd watched he felt that his hammock was the
+object in view, and in his dread he started to find that all was
+intensely dark and that he had been dreaming all this.
+
+It was very hot, and there was heavy breathing all around, but not
+another sound, so feeling once more that it would be impossible to
+sleep, and that he might as well be on guard, Syd kept his vigil for
+quite five minutes, and then, as was perfectly natural, went off fast
+asleep again, to lie until it seemed to him that there was a crash of
+thunder, and then all was blank.
+
+"Here, hi!  Sentry!  Bring a lantern.  It's a mean, cowardly act, and
+I'll complain to the first lieutenant."
+
+The roar of laughter which had been going on, mingled with comments,
+ceased at this, and was succeeded by a low buzzing sound, which seemed
+to Syd to be close to his ears as he saw a dim light, felt horribly
+sleepy, and as if his head ached violently.
+
+"It's too bad.  The other was only a game.  The poor fellow's head's cut
+and bleeding, and whoever did this is a mean-spirited coward, and no
+gentleman."
+
+"Shall I go and rouse up the doctor, sir?"
+
+"No; we'll bind it up, and keep it all quiet.  There'd be no end of
+trouble if the captain knew.  I only wish I knew who did it, cutting a
+fellow down by the head like this."
+
+Syd tried to speak, but he was like one in a dream.
+
+"If I knew who it was--" said Roylance.
+
+"What would you do?" said a voice, which Syd seemed to recognise; "go
+and tell his daddy?"
+
+"No; I'd tell him he was a mean-spirited, cowardly hound," said
+Roylance, "and not fit for the society of gentlemen."
+
+"Hark at the bishop's boy, I dare say he did it himself."
+
+"Just the sort of thing I should do!" replied Roylance, sharply.  "More
+likely one of Mike Terry's brutal tricks."
+
+"Oh, very well, Master Roy.  You and I can talk that over another time.
+So you mean to say I did it?"
+
+Roylance did not answer, and just then Sydney recovered his voice, the
+faintness passing away like a cloud.  "Was it he?" whispered the boy.
+"I'm not sure," whispered Roylance.  "Don't quarrel because of me.  Does
+my head bleed now?"
+
+"No; I've tied my handkerchief tightly round it.  Lie still, you'll be
+better soon.--Here, marine, knot up that hammock again.  You shan't be
+cut down again, for I'll keep watch."
+
+"There's nothing the matter," said Terry, from the other end of the
+berth; "it's only one of Miss Roylance's fads.  Currying favour with the
+skipper by making a pet monkey of his boy."
+
+Roylance ground his teeth, and Syd lay very quiet listening, and
+watching the marine as he knotted together the broken lines, helping him
+in afterwards, and going away with the lantern.
+
+"Don't wait," whispered Syd; "it's very good of you, but I'm not hurt
+much.  They cut the ropes up by my head, didn't they?"
+
+"Yes; the cowards!  But I don't think they'll touch you again now.
+Shall I stop?"
+
+"No; don't, please.  I may as well take my chance."
+
+"Very well," said Roylance, and he went back to his own hammock amongst
+the remarks and laughs of those who, from liking or dread, had made
+themselves the parasites of the leader of the mess.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.
+
+Syd started into wakefulness in the morning to find that he had been
+sleeping heavily.  His head ached a little, and when he moved there was
+a smarting sensation, but he felt disturbed mentally more than in body.
+He turned out of his hammock and dressed as quickly as the new stiff
+buttonholes of his uniform would allow, all the time suffering from a
+sensation of misery and discomfort which made his temper anything but
+amiable.
+
+"How's your head?" said Roylance, who was one of the last to wake.
+
+"Bad--sore--aches."
+
+"Let me look."
+
+Syd submitted himself unwillingly.
+
+"Only wants a bathe, and a bit of plaister.  I'll see to that."
+
+The dressing was finished, the hammocks rolled up, and Syd was wondering
+how long breakfast would be, and what they should have.  Terry, who was
+strolling about the place watching him furtively, suddenly stood aside,
+the others watching him.
+
+At that moment Roylance came down into his berth with a pair of scissors
+and some sticking-plaister.
+
+"Here you are," he said.  "I'll just cut a little of the hair away, and
+put a bit of this on.  It won't show under your hat."
+
+"All right," said Syd, sitting down in the middle of the place on the
+top of his sea-chest; "but you needn't have fetched that.  I had some in
+here."
+
+"Do for next time," said Roylance, cutting off a large piece of
+plaister.
+
+"Oh, nonsense," said Syd, laughing; "a quarter of that would do.  I
+could do it myself if I could see."
+
+Just then Terry came swaggering up, and Roylance winced, the scissors
+with which he was cutting the plaister trembling a little.
+
+"Oh, look here, Master Roy," said Terry, haughtily.  "You made some
+remarks to me in the night about that cutting down of the hammock.  I
+want an apology from you."
+
+"I'm busy now, Mr Terry," said Roylance; and the irritable feeling
+which troubled Syd seemed to be on the increase.
+
+"I didn't ask you if you were busy, sir, I said I wanted an apology,"
+continued Terry, while the rest of the mess looked on excitedly at the
+promising quarrel between the two eldest middies on board the _Sirius_.
+
+"I'm attending to this new messmate's hurt."
+
+"Let him go to the doctor if he is hurt," snarled Terry.  "I tell you I
+want an apology.  You as good as said that I cut down this cub's hammock
+last night."
+
+"If I had quite said it, I dare say I shouldn't have been far wrong,"
+replied Roylance, in a low tone.
+
+"Oh, indeed, miss," sneered Terry, "you always were clever with your
+tongue, like the long thin molly you are.  Now then, take that back
+before--"
+
+He ceased speaking and doubled his fists.
+
+Syd felt as if he were sitting on a fire, and something within him was
+beginning to boil.
+
+"I'm not going to apologise now," said Roylance, wincing a little, but
+speaking more determinedly than before.
+
+"Arn't you?  Then I'm going to make you," said Terry.  "Bolton, go to
+the bottom of the ladder and give warning."
+
+"No, no; send Jenks," said the boy addressed, appealingly.
+
+"You go, and do as you're told," said Terry, fiercely; and Syd felt as
+if he must boil over soon, no matter how much he was hurt.
+
+"Now then, Miss Roylance, if you please, I'm waiting," said Terry, in an
+offensive way.  "You're such a talker that you can easily make a nice
+apology."
+
+Roylance went on cutting and sticking the piece of plaister.
+
+"Do you hear me, sir?" cried Terry, "or am I to set Baby Jenks to thrash
+you?"
+
+"Stand up, Belton," said Roylance, quietly.  "Now then, turn a little
+more to the light;" and Sydney rose.
+
+"Stand aside, youngster.  I want to give Miss Roylance a bit of
+sticking-plaister first."
+
+As he spoke he gave Syd, who was between them, a push, whose result
+astounded him.
+
+"Out of the way will you," cried Syd, fiercely; "can't you see he's
+busy?"
+
+That which had been boiling in him had gone over the side at last, and
+Terry stopped short staring with astonishment.
+
+"If you want to talk to him, wait till he has done my head.  Better talk
+to me, for it was you, you great coward, who cut me down."
+
+"Why you--oh, this is too good!" cried Terry, with a forced laugh, as he
+looked round at the little knot of his messmates.  "There, wait a minute
+till I've done with Molly Roylance, and I'll soon settle your little
+bill."
+
+Roylance stood looking pale and excited, with the scissors and plaister
+still in his hand, but on his guard ready to spring back or sidewise if
+attacked.  Then he, like his would-be assailant, stared in astonishment.
+For Syd had resumed his position between them as if about to lower his
+head to the light; when, feeling that if he wished to maintain his
+character he must act sharply against what was to him a new boy in the
+midshipman's mess, Terry laid hold of Syd's collar and swung him round.
+
+"Out of the way, will you!" he said; and as the road was clear he made a
+spring at Roylance, but suddenly gave his head a twist, tripped over the
+new sea-chest that was in the way, and fell heavily.
+
+"Oh, that's it, is it?" he cried, as he sprang to his feet.  "Well, the
+sooner you have your lesson the better."
+
+He began to divest himself of his upper garment as he spoke; and Syd,
+whose teeth were set, and whose knuckles were tingling from the effect
+of the blow he had planted on Terry, rapidly imitated him.
+
+"No, no," said Roylance, excitedly; "this is my quarrel.  You see fair."
+
+"You want me to quarrel with you?" cried Syd, fiercely; "see fair
+yourself.  Hold that."
+
+He threw his garment to the tall slight lad, and rolled up his sleeves,
+to stand forth no mean antagonist for the bully, though Terry was a
+couple of inches taller, as many years older, and better set.
+
+"Be ready to pick him up, Molly Roy," said Terry, sneeringly.  "Get a
+sponge and a basin of water ready, Baby Jenks, and--"
+
+He staggered back.  For as he spoke he had begun sparring at one who was
+smarting with rage, and the thought that the cowardly fellow who had
+injured him so in the night was before him ready for him to take his
+revenge.  Syd thought of nothing else, and the moment he was facing his
+adversary, clashed in at him, delivering so fierce a blow that Terry
+nearly went down.
+
+Then came and went blow after blow.  There was a close, a fierce
+struggle here and there, and both went down just as a pair of broad
+shoulders were seen at the door beside those of Bolton, who was keeping
+watch over the fight instead of the companion-ladder, and the broad
+shoulders and the rugged countenance were those of the new boatswain.
+
+"Arn't lost much time," he growled.
+
+"No.  Don't stop 'em," whispered Bolton.  "Let them have it out."
+
+"Oh, I arn't agoin' to stop 'em," growled back Barney.  "He's got to be
+a fighting man, so he'd better larn to fight."
+
+"Can he fight?" whispered the middy.
+
+"Seems like it, sir: that was right in the nose."
+
+An excited murmur ran through the spectators, as after a sharp little
+episode, during which Syd had been a good deal knocked about, Terry went
+back against the bulkhead and stood with his hand to his face.
+
+"Ready for the sponge and basin, Mike Terry?" squeaked Jenks; and there
+was a laugh.
+
+"I'll remember that, Baby," cried Terry, squaring up to his adversary
+again with the full intention of putting an end to an encounter beneath
+his dignity; and after a sharp struggle Syd's crown struck the bulkhead
+loudly, and he went down sitting on a locker.
+
+"That's done him," said Bolton, with a sigh, as if he were disappointed.
+
+"Not it, my lad.  Master Syd arn't got warm yet.  Your chap's got his
+work cut out to lick him."
+
+"Then he can fight?" whispered Bolton, eagerly.
+
+"Well, it arn't so much his fighting; it's a way he's got o' not being
+able to leave off when he's wound up, and that tires 'em.  Look at
+that."
+
+The fight had been renewed by Terry rushing forward to finish off his
+antagonist, who had seemed to be a little confused by the last round.
+
+But Sydney eluded him, and with a wonderful display of activity avoided
+several awkward blows, and after wearying his enemy managed to deliver
+one with all his might in unpleasant proximity to Terry's eyes.
+
+The struggle went on with varying success, Syd on the whole naturally
+getting far the worst of it; but Barney stood stolidly looking on, and
+when Roylance felt his heart sink as he saw how badly his brave young
+defender was being beaten, the boatswain said coolly to Bolton in reply
+to a--
+
+"Now then, what do you think of that?"
+
+"Lot's o' stuff in him yet, young gen'leman.  He's good for another
+hour."
+
+There was encounter after encounter, and close after close, during which
+Syd generally went down first; but to Terry's astonishment the more he
+knocked his young antagonist about the fiercer it made him, and at last
+after delivering a successful blow full in Syd's chest he cried out--
+
+"Take him away, Roy; I don't want to hurt him any--"
+
+Terry did not finish his remark, for the second half of that last word
+was knocked back by a bang right in the mouth, followed up by several
+others so rapidly delivered that the champion of the midshipmen's mess
+went down this time without a struggle.
+
+"What do you think o' that, young gen'leman?" said Barney.
+
+"Hurray!" whispered Bolton, bending down and squeezing his hands between
+his knees; "he'll lick him."
+
+"Eh?  I thought he was your man."
+
+"A beast!  He's always knocking us about," whispered Bolton.  "Hurray!
+go it, Belt."
+
+The adversaries were face to face again, and there was a breathless
+silence.
+
+"Had enough?" panted Terry.
+
+"No, not half," cried Syd, rushing at him.
+
+"Look at that!  See his teeth?" said Barney.  "That's British bull-dog,
+that is.  Master Syd never fights till he's made, but when he does--My
+eye! that was a crack."
+
+But it was not Barney's eye.  It was Terry's, and the blow was so sharp
+that the receiver went down into a corner, and refused to get up again,
+while the subjects of the fallen king crowded round the victor eager to
+shake hands.
+
+"No, no," panted Syd; "don't: my knuckles are all bleeding.  What's my
+face like?" he said sharply to Roylance.
+
+"Knocked about; but never mind that, Belton; you've won."
+
+"I don't mind," was the reply; "and I don't want to win.  Are you much
+hurt?" he continued, going to Terry's corner, where the vanquished hero
+was still seated upon the floor with little Jenkins, with much sympathy,
+offering to sponge his face.
+
+"I'm sorry we fought," said Syd, quietly.  "Shake hands."
+
+There was no reply.
+
+"You're not hurt much, are you?"
+
+Terry gave him one quick look, and then let his head down on his chest.
+
+"You'll shake hands?" said Syd.  "We can be friends now."
+
+Still no notice.
+
+"Shake hands, Mike Terry," piped little Jenkins.  "You've licked
+everybody, and it was quite your turn."
+
+"Hold your tongue, you little wretch," hissed the other.  "I owe you
+something for this."
+
+"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the impish little fellow, beginning to caper about
+with the sponge.  "You touch me again and I'll get Belton to give you
+your gruel.  You nasty great coward, you've got it at last."
+
+"Don't you be a coward," said Syd, sharply.  "Now, Mr Terry, I'm very
+sorry: shake hands."
+
+"Here, one of you take that basin and sponge away from Jenks," said
+Terry, getting up painfully.  "He wouldn't have done this if I hadn't
+hurt one of my arms."
+
+"Well, if I was licked fair like that, I would own to it," said Bolton.
+"It was fair, wasn't it, Roy?"
+
+"As fair as a fight could be," was the reply.
+
+"Yes," said Barney, thrusting in his head, "that was as fair as could
+be, Master Syd."
+
+"What you, Barney!"
+
+"Bo'sun, sir.  I wouldn't interrupt you afore, 'cause I knowed you
+wouldn't like it, but the captain wants to see you."
+
+"What!" cried Sydney, as he clapped his hands to his swollen nose and
+lips.  "Wants to see me?"
+
+"Soon as ever he's done his braxfass, sir."
+
+"Oh, what shall I do?" cried Syd.
+
+"Dunno, sir," said the boatswain, grinning, "unless you sends word
+you're sea-sick, for you do look bad."
+
+"No, no, I can't do that."
+
+"Oh, I dunno, sir," said the boatswain, chuckling.  "You was sea-sick
+months before you joined your ship, so I don't see why you shouldn't be
+now.  My Panny-mar's got it too.  Took bad last night."
+
+"What, has he been fighting?"
+
+"Didn't ask him, sir; but he can't see out of his eyes, and when I asked
+him how he felt, he grinned like all on one side."
+
+"I heard there was a fight with a new boy," piped out Jenkins.  "Had it
+out with Monkey Bill and licked him.  Was that your boy, bo'sun?"
+
+"That's him, sir.  We all comes of a fighting breed; him and me and the
+cap'en and Master Syd here.  Skipper's awful, and I shall be sorry for
+the Frenchies and Spanles as he tackles.  Well, Master Syd, what am I to
+tell the captain's sarvant 'bout you?"
+
+"Go and ask to see the captain," said Syd, firmly, "and tell him that I
+have been having a fight, and am not fit to come."
+
+"Hear that?" said the boatswain, looking proudly round--"hear that,
+young gen'lemen?  That's Bri'sh bull-dog, that is.  What do you think of
+your messmate now?"
+
+The middies gave a cheer, and crowded round Syd as Terry bent over the
+locker to bathe his swollen face, and he looked up once, but did not say
+a word.
+
+"Some says fighting among boys is a bad thing," muttered the boatswain,
+as he went on deck, "and I don't approve of it.  But when one chap
+bullies all the rest, same as when one country begins to wallop all the
+others, what are you to do?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER NINETEEN.
+
+As Bo'sun Strake reached the deck, he came suddenly upon the first
+lieutenant, and touched his hat.
+
+"Where have you been, my man?"
+
+"Down below, sir."
+
+"I said where have you been, my man?" said the lieutenant, sternly.
+
+"Young gentlemen's quarters, sir."
+
+"What was going on there?"
+
+The bo'sun hesitated, but the lieutenant's eyes fixed him, and he said,
+unwillingly--
+
+"A fight, sir."
+
+"Humph!  The new midshipman--Mr Belton?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Got well thrashed, I suppose?"
+
+"No, sir; not he," cried the bo'sun, eagerly.
+
+"Who was it with?"
+
+"Tall young gent, sir, as brought us off in the boat yesterday."
+
+"That will do."
+
+"Hope he won't mast-head the dear boy for this," muttered Barney, as he
+went aft, found the captain's servant, and asked to see his master.
+
+In a few minutes he was summoned, and found Captain Belton writing.
+
+"Well, Strake; what is it?"
+
+"I had a message, your honour, to take to the young gentlemen's berth."
+
+"Yes; to Mr Belton.  Is he here?"
+
+"No, your honour; he's there."
+
+"Well, is he coming?"
+
+"If you say he's to come, sir, he'll come; but he don't look fit."
+
+"Why?  Fighting?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"And been beaten?"
+
+"Beaten, your honour?  Well, beggin' your pardon, sir, I'm surprised at
+you.  My boy Panny-mar give it to his man pretty tidy last night, but
+he's nothing to that young gent below yonder."
+
+"Indeed!" said the captain, frowning.
+
+"Yes, sir, indeed.  He do look lovely."
+
+"Who has my son been fighting with?"
+
+"Young gent as was in charge of the boat as brought Sir Thomas and us
+aboard, sir."
+
+"That will do, Strake."
+
+The bo'sun touched his forehead, and backed out of the cabin.
+
+"So soon!" muttered Captain Belton; and, taking his hat, he went on deck
+to encounter the first lieutenant directly.
+
+"I find that my son has been fighting in the midshipmen's mess, Mr
+Bracy," he said.  "Please bear in mind that he is Mr Belton, a
+midshipman in his Majesty's service, and that I wish that no favour
+should be shown to him on account of his being nearly related to me."
+
+"Trust me for that, Captain Belton," said the lieutenant.  "If I made
+any exception at all, it would be to bear a little more severely upon
+him."
+
+"And in this case?"
+
+"Well, sir, in this case, from what I understand, he has incapacitated
+our senior midshipman for duty."
+
+"I am sorry," said the captain.
+
+"I am glad," said the first lieutenant.
+
+"Eh?"
+
+"Cut his comb, sir.  Good, gentlemanly-looking fellow, who understands
+his duty, but a sad bully, I fear."
+
+"Oh!  And you will punish--er--them both?"
+
+"Punish, sir?" said the lieutenant; "oh dear, no.  I don't mean to hear
+anything about it, sir.  But I congratulate you upon the stuff of which
+your son is made."
+
+"Thank you, Mr Bracy," said the captain, as they touched their hats to
+each other most ceremoniously, and the captain went back to his cabin.
+
+For the next week all was confusion on deck, alow and aloft.  The
+captain stayed at the hotel ashore so as to be handy, and the first
+lieutenant ruled supreme.
+
+The riggers were still busy, and the crew hard at work getting in
+stores, water, and provisions, including fresh meat and vegetables.
+Coops and pens were stowed forward, and chaos was the order of the day.
+
+Syd became thoroughly well accustomed to the middies' berth, for he was
+obliged to keep down all day, mostly in company with Terry, but they
+kept apart as much as possible, and Syd was old enough to feel that it
+was a very hollow truce between them.
+
+But as soon as it was dark he was up on deck, where it was not long
+before he found out that he was the object of attention of the men, who
+were not slow to show their admiration for the young fellow who had so
+soon displayed his mettle by thrashing the bully of the mess.
+
+The bo'sun was to answer for a good deal of this, and so it was, that go
+where he would there was a smile for him, and an eagerness on the part
+of the crew to answer questions or perform any little bit of service.
+
+This was all very pleasant, and life on board began to look less black,
+although it really was life in the dark.
+
+"But, never mind, Roy," he would say, in allusion to his nocturnal life;
+"keeps people from seeing what a face I've got.  Don't look so bad
+to-day, does it?"
+
+"Bad? no.  It's all right."
+
+"Oh, is it?  I suppose it about matches Terry's, and his is a pretty
+sight."
+
+During his week Syd was always expecting to be summoned by his father or
+the first lieutenant, but he encountered neither; they seemed to have
+forgotten his existence.  So he read below a great deal of light,
+cheerful, edifying matter upon navigation--good yawning stuff, with
+plenty of geometry in it and mathematical calculations, seeing little of
+his messmates, who were on the whole pretty busy.
+
+At night, though, he began to acquire a little practical seamanship,
+calling upon the bo'sun, a most willing teacher, to impart all he could
+take in, in these brief lessons, about the masts, yards, sails, stays,
+and ropes.  He went aloft, and being eager and quick, picked up a vast
+amount of information of a useful kind, Barney knowing nothing that was
+not of utility.
+
+"Never had no time for being polished, Master Syd," he would say, "but
+lor me, what a treat it is to get back among the hemp and canvas!  I
+never used to think when I was splicing a graft on a tree that I should
+come to splicing 'board ship again.  When are you coming on deck again
+in the day-time?"
+
+"Not till I look decent, Barney."
+
+"Beg pardon, sir."
+
+"Bo'sun, then."
+
+"Thankye, sir."
+
+The week had passed, and the next day the ship was clear of its dockyard
+artisans.  Shipwrights, riggers, and the rest of them had gone, and
+leaving the painting to be done by his crew during calms, the captain
+received his orders, the frigate was unmoored, and Syd watched from one
+of the little windows the receding waves, becoming more and more
+conscious of the fact that there was wind at work and tide in motion.
+
+The time went on, and he knew that there was the land on one side and a
+verdant island on the other, but somehow he did not admire them, and
+when Roylance came to him in high glee to call him to dinner, with the
+announcement that there were roast chickens and roast leg of pork as a
+wind-up before coming down to biscuit and salt junk, Syd said he would
+not come.
+
+"But chickens, man--chickens roast."
+
+"Don't care for roast chickens," said Syd.
+
+"Roast pork then, and sage and onions."
+
+"Oh, I say, don't!" cried Syd, with a shudder.
+
+"Well, I must go, or I shan't get a morsel," cried Roylance, and he
+hurried away.
+
+"How horrible!" thought the boy.  "I do believe I'm going to be
+sea-sick, just like any other stupid person who goes a voyage for the
+first time."
+
+Before evening the frigate had passed high chalk bluffs on the left, and
+on the right a wide bay, with soft yellow sandy shore.  Then there was
+chalk to right and the open channel to left; then long ranges of
+limestone cliffs, dotted with sea-birds, and then evening and the land
+growing distant, the waves rising and falling, and as he went to his
+hammock that night Syd uttered a groan.
+
+"What's the matter, lad?" cried Roylance, who was below.
+
+"Bad," said Syd, laconically.
+
+"Nonsense! make a bold fight of it."
+
+"Fight?" cried Syd; "why Baby Jenks could thrash me now.  How long shall
+I be ill?"
+
+"Well, if it gets rough, as it promises to, I dare say you'll have a
+week of it."
+
+"A week?" groaned Syd.
+
+Then some time after, to himself, between bad paroxysms of misery--
+
+"Never mind," he said; "by the time I am able to go on deck again I
+shall look fit to be seen."
+
+It was about a couple of hours later, when the frigate had got beyond a
+great point which jutted out into the sea, and began to stretch away for
+the ocean, that Syd awakened to the fact that the vessel seemed to be
+having a game with him.  She glided up and up, bearing him tenderly and
+gently as it were up to the top of a hill of water, and then, after
+holding him there for a moment, she dived down and left him, with a
+horrible sensation of falling that grew worse as the wind increased, and
+the _Sirius_ heeled over.
+
+"I wonder whether, if I made a good brave effort, I could master this
+giddy weak sensation," thought the boy.  "I'll try."
+
+He made his effort--a good, bold, brave effort--and then he lay down and
+did not try to make any more efforts for a week, when after passing
+through what seemed to be endless misery, during which he lay helplessly
+in his hammock, listening to the creaking of the ship's timbers and the
+rumble that went on overhead, and often thinking that the ship was
+diving down into the sea never to come up again, he was aroused by a
+gruff voice, which sounded like Barney Strake's.  It was very dark, and
+he felt too ill to open his eyes, but he spoke and said--
+
+"Is that you, bo'sun?"
+
+"Ay, ay, my lad; me it is.  Come, rouse and bit."
+
+"I couldn't, Barney," said Syd, feebly.  "The very thought of a bit of
+anything makes me feel worse."
+
+"Yah! not it; and I didn't mean eat; I meant turn out, have a good wash,
+and dress, and come on deck."
+
+"I should die if I tried."
+
+"Die, lad?  What, you?  Any one would think you was ill."
+
+"I am, horribly."
+
+"Yah! nonsense!  On'y squirmy.  Weather's calming down now, and you'll
+be all right."
+
+"No, Barney; never any more," sighed Syd.  "I say."
+
+"Ay, my lad.  What is it?"
+
+"Will they bury me at sea, Barney?"
+
+"Haw--haw--haw!" laughed the bo'sun.  "He thinks he's going to die!
+Why, Master Syd, I did think you had a better heart."
+
+"You don't know how ill I am," said the boy, feebly.
+
+"Yes I do, zackly.  I've seen lots bad like you, on'y it arn't bad, but
+doing you good."
+
+"No, Barney; you don't know," said Syd, a little more forcibly.
+
+"Why, you haven't been so bad as my Pan-y-mar was till I cured him."
+
+"Did you cure him?" said Syd, beginning to take more interest in the
+bo'sun's words.
+
+"Ay, my lad, in quarter of an hour."
+
+"Do you think you could cure me, Barney?  I don't want to die just yet."
+
+"On'y hark at him."
+
+"But do you think you could cure me?"
+
+"Course I could, my lad; but I mustn't.  You've get the doctor to see
+you.  Don't he do you no good?"
+
+"No, Barney; he only laughed at me--like you did."
+
+"'Nough to make him, lad.  You're not bad."
+
+"I tell you I am," cried Syd, angrily.  "What did you give Pan?"
+
+"I didn't give him nothin', sir.  I only showed him a rope's-end, and I
+says to him, `Now look ye here, Pan-y-mar,' I says, `if you aren't
+dressed and up and doing in quarter hour, here's your dose.'"
+
+"Oh!" moaned Syd.
+
+"And he never wanted to take it, Master Syd, for he was up on deck 'fore
+I said, and he haven't been bad since."
+
+"How could you be such a brute, Barney?"
+
+"Brute, lad?  Why, it was a kindness.  If I might serve you the same--"
+
+"It would kill me," said Syd, angrily; and somehow his voice grew
+stronger.
+
+"Kill yer!  You'd take a deal more killing than you think for."
+
+"No, I shouldn't.  I'm nearly dead now."
+
+"Nay, lad; you're as lively as a heel in fresh water.  Capen sent me
+down to see how you was."
+
+"He hasn't been to see me, Barney."
+
+"Course he arn't, lad.  Had enough to do looking arter the ship, for
+we've had a reg'lar snorer these last few days.  Don't know when I've
+seen a rougher sea.  Been quite a treat to a man who has been ashore so
+long.  See how the frigate behaved?"
+
+"Did she, Barney?"
+
+"Loverly.  There, get up; and I'll go and tell the skipper you're all
+right again."
+
+"But I tell you I'm not.  I'm very, very bad."
+
+"Not you, Master Syd."
+
+"I am, I tell you."
+
+"Not you, lad.  Nothing the matter with you;" and Barney winked to
+himself.
+
+"Look here," cried Syd, passionately, as he jumped up in his hammock,
+"you're a stupid, obstinate old fool, so be off with you."
+
+"And you're a midshipman, that's what you are, Master Syd, as thinks
+he's got the mumble-dumbles horrid bad, when it's fancy all the time."
+
+"Do you want me to hit you, Barney?" cried Syd, angrily.
+
+"Hit me?  I should like you to do it, sir.  Do you know I'm bo'sun of
+this here ship?"
+
+"I don't care what you are," cried Syd.  "You're an unfeeling brute.  An
+ugly old idiot, that's what you are."
+
+"Oh! am I, sir?  Well, what do you call yerself--all yaller and huddled
+up like a sick monkey in a hurricane.  Why, I'd make a better boy out of
+a ship's paddy and a worn-out swab."
+
+Syd hit out at him with all his might, striking the bo'sun in the chest,
+but overbalancing himself so that he rolled out of the hammock, and
+would have fallen had not Barney caught him in his arms and planted him
+on the deck.
+
+"Hoorray!  Well done, Master Syd; now then, on with these here
+stockings, and jump into your breeches.  I'll help you.  On'y want a
+good wash and a breath o' fresh air, and then--look here, I'll get the
+cook to let you have a basin o' soup, and you'll be as right as a
+marlin-spike in a ball o' tow."
+
+Syd was too weak to make much opposition.  He had awakened to the fact
+after his fit of passion that he really was not so bad as he thought.
+The ship was not dancing about, and there was a bright ray of sunshine
+cutting the darkness outside the place where he lay, and once or twice
+he had inhaled a breath of sweet, balmy, summer-like air.  Then, too,
+his head did not swim so much in an erect position, and he let Barney go
+on talking in his rough, good-humoured fashion, and help him on with
+some clothes; bring him a bowl of water in which he had a good wash; and
+when at last he was dressed and sitting back weak and helpless on the
+locker, the bo'sun said--
+
+"Now, I was going to say have a whiff o' fresh air first, my lad; but
+you are a bit pulled down for want o' wittals.  I'll speak to the cook
+now, and seeing who you are, I dessay he'll rig you up a mess of slops
+as 'll do you no end o' good."
+
+"I couldn't touch anything, Barney."
+
+"Yah, lad! you dunno.  Said you couldn't get up, and here you are.
+Think I can't manage you.  Here, have another hit out at me."
+
+"Oh, Barney, I am so sorry."
+
+"Sorry be hanged, lad!  I'm glad.  You won't know yourself another
+hour."
+
+"But--but I'm going to be sick again, Barney," gasped the invalid.
+
+"That's a moral impossibility, my lad, as I werry well know.  You sit
+still while I fetch you something to put in your empty locker.  Didn't
+know I was such a doctor, did yer?"
+
+Barney stepped out of the door, and went straight for the galley,
+leaving Syd leaning back in a corner feeling deathly sick, the
+perspiration standing cold upon his brow, and with an intense longing to
+lie down once more, and in profound ignorance of what will can do for a
+sea-sick patient after a certain amount of succumbing.
+
+The threat of the rope's-end had finished Pan's bout.  Something else
+was going to act as a specific for Syd's.
+
+He had been seated there a few minutes when there was a light step, and
+a little figure appeared surmounted by the comically withered
+countenance of Jenkins.
+
+"Hallo, Belton!" he cried.  "Up again.  Better?"
+
+"No; I feel very ill."
+
+"Never mind.  You do look mouldy, though.  Can I get you anything?"
+
+"No; I couldn't touch a bit."
+
+"Couldn't you?  Keep your head to the wind, lad, and get well.  Old Mike
+Terry's getting horrid saucy again, so look sharp and bung him up."
+
+The little fellow popped up on deck, and took the news, with the effect
+that Bolton came and said a word of congratulation, and he was followed
+by Roylance.
+
+"Oh, I am glad, old fellow," cried the latter.  "You've had a nasty
+bout.  But, I say, your eyes are all right again, and the swelling's
+gone from your lip."
+
+"Has it?" said Syd, feebly, as if nothing mattered now.
+
+"Yes; you'll very soon come round.  We've run down with a rush before
+that nor'-easter, and we're getting into lovely summer weather.  Coming
+on deck?"
+
+"Too weak."
+
+"Not you.  Do you good.  But I must go back on deck.  Regular drill on."
+
+He hurried away, and Syd was leaning back utterly prostrated, when there
+was another step, and he opened his eyes to see that the figure which
+darkened the door was that of Terry, who came into the low dark place,
+and stood looking down at his late antagonist with a sneering
+contemptuous smile which was increased to a laugh.
+
+"What a poor miserable beggar!" he said, as if talking to himself.
+"Talk about the sailor's sick parrot.  Ha, ha, ha!"
+
+A faint tinge of colour began to dawn in Syd's face.  "Well," said
+Terry; "what are you staring at?"
+
+Syd made no reply, only kept his eyes fixed on his enemy, and panted
+slightly.
+
+"Hadn't you better go and ask your father to put you ashore somewhere,
+miss?" sneered Terry.  "You ought to be sent home in a Bath chair."
+
+Syd made no reply, and Terry, who under his assumed nonchalant sneering
+aspect was simmering with rage at the sight of his conqueror, went on
+glorying in the chance to trample on a fallen enemy, and trying to work
+him up to do something which would give him an excuse for delivering a
+blow.
+
+"_I_ can't think what officers are about to bring such miserable sickly
+objects on board the King's ships to upset and annoy everybody with
+their miserable long-shore ways.  It's a scandal to the service."
+
+Still Syd made no answer, and emboldened by the silence Terry went on.
+
+"If I had my way I'd just take every contemptible sick monkey who laid
+up, haul him on deck, make fast a rope to his ankle, and souse him
+overboard a few times.  That would cure them."
+
+Syd closed his eyes, for he was giddy; but his breast rose and fell as
+if he were suffering from some emotion.
+
+"Filling the ship up with a pack of swabs who, because they are sons of
+captains, are indulged and nursed, and the whole place is turned into a
+hospital.  Why don't you go into the cabin?"
+
+"Because I don't choose," cried Syd, suddenly starting up with his face
+flushing, his eyes bright, and the passion that was in him sending the
+blood coursing through his veins.
+
+Terry started back in astonishment.
+
+"I'm not going into the cabin, because I am going to stop here in the
+midshipmen's berth to teach the bully of the mess how to behave himself
+like a gentleman."
+
+"What?"
+
+"And not like the domineering cur and coward he is."
+
+"Coward?"
+
+"Yes, to come and talk to me like this; you know I'm weak and ill."
+
+"What?  Why, you miserable contemptible cub, say another word and I'll
+rub your nose on the planks till you beg my pardon."
+
+"Another word, and a dozen other words, Bully Terry.  Touch me, coward!
+I can't help myself now; but if you lay a finger on me, I'll get well
+and give you such a thrashing as the last shall be like nothing to it.
+You've got one of my marks still on your ugly nose.  Now, touch me if
+you dare."
+
+"Why, hullo, Master Syd; that you?" said Barney, in his loudest voice,
+as he entered the place with a basin full of some steaming compound.
+
+"Ha--ha--ha!" laughed Terry.  "Here's the nurse come with the baby's
+pap.  Did you put some sugar in it, old woman?"
+
+"Nay, sir; no sugar," said Barney, touching his hat; "but there's plenty
+of good solid beef-stock in it, the cook says; stuff as 'll rouse up Mr
+Belton's muscles, and make 'em 'tiff as hemp-rope.  Like to try 'em
+again in a fortnight's time?"
+
+"You insolent scoundrel! how dare you!  Do you forget that you are
+speaking to your officer?"
+
+"No, sir.  Beg pardon, sir."
+
+"It is not granted.  Leave this place, sir, and go on deck."
+
+"Don't do anything of the kind, Strake," cried Syd, who was calming
+down.  "You are waiting on me."
+
+"Do you hear me, sir?" roared Terry again.
+
+"I can," said Syd, coolly, "and a wretchedly unpleasant voice it is.  Go
+and bray somewhere else, donkey.  Let's see, it was the ass that tried
+to kick the sick--"
+
+"Lion," interrupted Terry, with a sneer.  "Are you a sick lion?"
+
+"It would be precious vain to say yes," said Syd; "but I'll own to being
+the sick lion if you'll own to being the beast who hoisted his heels."
+
+"Bah!" ejaculated Terry, and he turned and stalked out of the place.
+
+"Felt as if I should have liked to go at him again," cried Syd,
+fiercely.
+
+Barney winked to himself.
+
+"He'll give me one for that, sir.  Now then, just you try a spoonful o'
+this; 'tain't too hot.  Not a nyste sort o' young gen'leman, is he?"
+
+"No, Barney," said Syd, taking the spoon.
+
+"His pap was a bit sour p'raps when he was young, eh, Master Syd?"
+
+"An overbearing bully!" cried Syd.  "Only wait till I get strong again."
+
+"And then you'll give it to him again, sir?"
+
+"I don't want to quarrel or fight with anybody," said Syd, speaking
+quickly and excitedly, between the spoonfuls of strong soup he was
+swallowing.
+
+"Course you don't, sir; you never was a quarrelsome young gent."
+
+"But he is beyond bearing."
+
+"That's true, sir; so he is.  Only I mustn't say so.  Lor', how I have
+seen young gents fight afore now; but when it's been all over, they've
+shook hands as if they'd found out who was strongest, and there's been
+an end on it."
+
+"Yes, Barney."
+
+"But this young gen'leman, sir, don't seem to take his beating kindly.
+Hauls down his colours, and you sends your orficer aboard to take
+possession--puts, as you may say, your right hand in, but he wouldn't
+take it."
+
+"No, Barney," said Syd, as the bo'sun winked again to himself, "he
+wouldn't shake hands."
+
+"No, sir; he wouldn't.  I see it all, and thought I ought to stop it,
+but I knowed from the first you'd lick him; and it strikes me werry
+hard, Mr Syd, sir, that you'll have to do all that there bit o' work
+over again."
+
+"But I'm weak now, and he may lick me, Barney," said Syd, who was making
+a peculiar noise now with the spoon he held--a noise which sounded like
+the word _soup_.
+
+"Weak? not you, sir.  Feels a bit down, but you'll soon forget that.  I
+wouldn't try to bring it on again, sir," said Barney, watching his young
+master all the while.
+
+"Bring it on?  No," cried Sydney.  "I tell you I hate fighting.  I don't
+like being hurt."
+
+"Course not, sir."
+
+"And I don't like hurting any one."
+
+"Well, sir, strikes me that's foolish, 'cause there's no harm in hurtin'
+a thing like him.  Do him good, I say.  You see, Master Syd, there's
+young gents as grows into good skippers, and there's young gents as
+grows into tyrants, and worries the men till they mutinies, and there's
+hangings and court-martials--leastwise, court-martials comes first.
+Now, Mr Terry, sir, unless he's tamed down and taught better, 's one o'
+the sort as makes bad skippers, and the more he's licked the better
+he'll be."
+
+"I shall never like him," said Syd, whose spoon was scraping the bottom
+of the basin now.
+
+"No, sir; I s'pose not," said Barney, with a dry grin beginning to
+spread over his countenance.  "Nobody could; but I dare say his mother
+thinks he's a werry nyste boy, and kisses and cuddles him, and calls him
+dear."
+
+"Yes, I suppose so, Barney."
+
+"And a pretty dear too; eh, Master Syd?"
+
+"Yes, Barney.  What are you laughing at?"
+
+"You, sir," cried the bos'un.  "Hooray! he's took it all, and said he
+couldn't touch a drop."
+
+"Well, I thought I couldn't, Barney; but Mr Terry roused me up, and I
+feel better now."
+
+"Nay, sir; play fair."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Give a man his doo.  It was me roused you up."
+
+"So it was, Barney.  I'm a deal better."
+
+"You're quite well, says Doctor Barney Strake, and that's me.  Say,
+Master Syd, what do they call that they gives a doctor wrorped up in
+paper?"
+
+"His fee."
+
+"Then, sir, that's just what you owes me, who says to you now--just you
+go on deck and breathe the fresh wind, for this here place would a'most
+stuffocate a goose."
+
+"Yes, I'll try and get on deck now," said Syd.
+
+"And try means do.  Hooray, sir, I'm going to tell the captain as you're
+quite well, thankye, now, Amen."
+
+"Not quite well, Barney."
+
+"Ay, but you are, sir.  But I say, Master Syd."
+
+"What?"
+
+"You never said your grace."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY.
+
+The cure was complete, and two days later Syd had almost forgotten that
+he had been ill.  The weather was glorious, and as they sailed on south
+and west before a favouring breeze, life at sea began to have its
+charms.
+
+Every day the ocean seemed to grow more blue; and pretty often there was
+something fresh to look at, fish, or bird wandering far from land.
+
+But theirs was to be no pleasure trip, as Syd soon realised upon seeing
+the many preparations that were being made for war.
+
+In his old days of command, Captain Harry Belton's was considered the
+smartest manned ship in the squadron in which he served, and it was his
+ambition now to make up for the many deficiencies he discovered on board
+the frigate.  Consequently gun and small-arm drill was almost as
+frequent as the practice of making and shortening sail.  The crew
+grumbled and grew weary, but all the same they felt an increasing
+respect for the officer who was determined to have everything done in
+the best way possible, and when the captain did say a few words of
+praise for some smart bit of seamanship, the men felt that it was praise
+worth having.
+
+It seemed rather hard to Syd at times that his father should be so cold
+and distant.  Roylance, who had become great friends with the new middy,
+noticed it too.
+
+"Were you bad friends at home?" he said to Syd, one day, as they were
+leaning over the taffrail gazing down at the clear blue sea.
+
+"Oh no, the best of friends; and I always dined with him and Uncle Tom
+when he was there, and sat with them at dessert."
+
+"Oh, I say, don't talk about it," said Roylance; "late dinners and
+dessert.  Different to our rough berth, eh?"
+
+"Ye-es," said Syd: "but one gets to like this more now."
+
+"Does seem strange though about the captain."
+
+"Takes more notice of the others than he does of me."
+
+"I don't know about more," said Roylance.  "Treats us all the same, I
+think.  Well, when you come to think of it, you are one of us, and it
+wouldn't be fair if he favoured you."
+
+"No."
+
+"Suppose it was promotion?  No, you mustn't grumble.--I say."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I wouldn't trust old Terry too much, Syd."
+
+"Why not?  He's friendly enough now; and we don't want to fight again."
+
+"No; but he's too civil to you now, and always looks to me as if he
+would do you an ill turn if he could."
+
+Syd laughed.
+
+"Ah, you may grin; but you wouldn't laugh if you found he'd just given
+you a push and sent you overboard some dark night."
+
+"Nonsense!"
+
+"I hope it is, but don't you trust him.  I've known Mike Terry three
+years, and I've always found that he never forgave anybody who got the
+better of him."
+
+"I'm not going to trust him particularly, nor keep him off," said Syd,
+carelessly.  "I say, though, how funny it is I find myself talking and
+feeling just as if I'd been at sea ever so long, instead of two or three
+weeks."
+
+"Soon get used to it.  You've been very lucky, though."
+
+"How?" said Syd.  "Being beaten nearly to a mummy, and then being
+sea-sick for a week?"
+
+"Having that fight, and marking Mike Terry.  It's made all the fellows
+like you."
+
+"And I don't deserve it."
+
+"Oh, don't you!  Well, never mind about that."
+
+"No; never mind about that," said Syd, carelessly.  "I say, where are we
+going?"
+
+"Don't know.  Nobody does.  Sealed orders to be opened somewhere.  I can
+guess where."
+
+"Indeed!"
+
+"Yes; at Barbadoes."
+
+"Is that a nice place?"
+
+"Middling.  I like Jamaica better."
+
+"And shall we go there?"
+
+"Wait, and you'll see, like the rest of us."
+
+"But do you think we shall have to fight?"
+
+"If we meet any of the enemy's ships, we shall have to fight or run
+away."
+
+"We shall never run away," said Syd, hotly.  "My father would never do
+that."
+
+Almost as he spoke, the man at the mast-head shouted "Sail ho!" and
+there was a commotion aboard.  Glasses were levelled, and before long a
+second ship was made out; and before long two more appeared, and by the
+cut of the sails it was decided that it was a little squadron of the
+French.
+
+Syd, to whom all this was wonderfully fresh, was eagerly scanning the
+distant sails, which showed up clearly now in the bright sunshine, when
+a voice behind him said--
+
+"Of course.  How cowardly!"
+
+"What would you do then?" said another familiar voice.
+
+"Face them as a king's ship should."
+
+"One frigate against four--one of which seems to be a two-decker, eh?
+Well, I say, the skipper's right to cut and run."
+
+"Cut and run from the presence of the enemy--his father going to flee?"
+Syd felt the blood come into his face, as he listened to the rapid
+orders that were given, as the ship's course was altered, and in a short
+time the _Sirius_ was rushing through the sea at a tremendous rate.
+
+Syd bit his lip, and felt cold with shame and mortification.  It seemed
+to him that he would not be able to face his messmates down below that
+evening; and seizing the opportunity he made his way to where the bo'sun
+was standing, silver pipe in hand, ready for the next order that might
+come.
+
+"Barney," he whispered, "we're running away."
+
+"Not us, my lad," said the old sailor, gruffly.  "Four to one means
+having our top gear knocked about our deck, and then boarding.  Skipper
+knows what he's about, and strikes me he'll 'stonish some o' them
+Mounseers afore they know where they are."
+
+"Then, why don't we go and fight them?"
+
+"Good sword-play don't mean going and blunder-headed chopping at a man
+like one goes at a tree, but fencing a bit till you get your chance.
+We're fencing, lad.  What we've got to do is to take or sink all the
+enemy we can, not get took or sunk ourselves."
+
+"But the glory, Barney."
+
+"More glory in keeping afloat, my lad, than in going down.  You let the
+skipper be; he's a better sailor than you are, I'll be bound."
+
+Syd, after a further conversation with the boatswain, saw the night come
+on, with the enemy's little squadron evidently in full chase.  He had
+clung to the hope that his father was manoeuvring so as to attack the
+ships one by one; but though the frigate had been cleared for action,
+and the men were full of excitement, there seemed as if there was to be
+no fighting that night.
+
+The boy was disappointed.  He was not free from the natural terror that
+any one would feel, but at the same time he was eager to see a naval
+encounter.  For home conversation between his father, uncle, and their
+friends had frequently been of the sea and sea-fights; and he was
+thoroughly imbued with the belief that a British man-of-war could do
+precisely what it liked with the enemy, and victory against any odds was
+a certainty.
+
+And here were they undoubtedly running away, to Syd's great disgust, for
+he had yet to learn that the better part of valour is discretion, and
+that a good commander is careful of his ship and men.  He was the more
+annoyed upon encountering Terry soon afterwards discussing the state of
+affairs with a couple of the lads below, and finding that he ceased
+speaking directly, and turned away with a laugh.
+
+Syd sat down pretending to ignore what he had seen, but the feeling
+within him drove him on deck again, where he was not long before one of
+the hearers of Terry's remarks took care that he should know what had
+been said.  Syd was leaning over the stern gazing away into the
+transparent darkness, with the stars shining brilliantly overhead, when
+Jenkins came to his side.
+
+"See 'em now?" said the boy.
+
+"No.  It is too dark."
+
+"Then we shan't take any prizes this time.  What a pity!"
+
+"Perhaps we should have been turned into a prize, Jenky," said Syd, for
+he was now on the most familiar terms with all his messmates.
+
+"Yes," said the boy, "perhaps so; but Mike Terry says if our old captain
+had been in command, he'd have put his helm down when those four
+frog-boxes were well within range, cut right between them, giving them
+our broadsides as we sailed, then rounded under their sterns, raked
+first one and then another as we passed, left two of them with their
+masts gone by the board, and gone on across the bows of the other two,
+and raked them from forrard.  He says they'd have struck their colours
+in no time.  Then prize crews would have been put aboard, and we should
+have gone back to port in triumph, with plenty of prize-money, and
+promotion to come."
+
+"Almost a pity the old captain was not in command, isn't it?" said Syd,
+bitterly.
+
+"He says it is.  He thinks it's downright cowardly to run for it like
+this.  Why, he says even he, young as he is, could have done it."
+
+A sudden snap close at hand made the two lads start and look round, to
+see a tall dark figure a few yards away in the act of closing a
+night-glass.
+
+"And pray who is the brave and experienced young officer who would have
+done all this?" said a cold sarcastic voice, which Syd recognised
+directly.  "No: stop.  Don't tell me, but tell him that it is a great
+mistake for young gentlemen in the midshipmen's berth to criticise the
+actions of their superior officers, who may be entirely wrong, but
+whether or no, their critics are more in error."
+
+"It was--"
+
+"I told you not to name him, sir.  I don't wish to know.  That will do."
+
+The two boys felt that this was a dismissal, and they hurried away.
+
+"Oh, I say, Belt," whispered Jenkins, "did you hear your father come
+up?"
+
+"No; I think he must have been standing there, using his glass, when you
+came."
+
+"I did think I saw something black.  Oh, I say, Belt, your dad is a
+Tartar."
+
+This little episode did not tend to make Syd more comfortable, and from
+that hour whenever he saw any of the men or officers talking together,
+he immediately fancied that they must be discussing and disapproving of
+Captain Belton's action in running away.
+
+It was long afterwards that Syd knew that his father's orders were to
+stop for nothing, but to make all speed for the West Indies, where
+another vessel of war was lying.  Though without those orders it would
+have been madness to have allowed the enemy to close in and attack.
+
+Syd was on deck at daybreak, eager to scan the horizon, but only to find
+that those before him of the watch had been performing the same duty
+with their glasses, and there was not a sail in sight.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
+
+There was plenty of talk during the next fortnight's slow sailing down
+into the tropics, and the captain's conduct was widely discussed, Sydney
+every now and then coming upon some knot where those who considered the
+captain had played a cowardly part were in the ascendant.  "Nailed the
+colours to the mast, and gone down together like heroes," some one said,
+and Sydney, who did not want to die like a hero if he could help it, but
+had the ambition of any healthy boy to live as long as possible, went
+away, feeling very low-spirited, till he came upon another excited
+group, at the head of whom was the boatswain.
+
+"What!" cried the latter, in answer to a remark made by one of the
+opposition; "ought to have gone at 'em and give 'em chain-shot in their
+rigging, when you've got sealed orders.  Look ye here, my lads, when
+you've been afloat as long as I have, you'll know that whether you're
+able seaman, or luff, cap, or admiral, you've got to obey.  Our orders
+is to go right away to the West Indies, and not stop playing on the
+road.  Strikes me as nothing would have pleased the skipper better than
+a game of bowls with the Parley Voos.  I've sailed with him before."
+
+"Oh, yes; you've often said that," cried one of the men.
+
+"And I says it again, Tom Rogers.  And I says this here too--don't you
+let him hear you say anything o' that kind, or you might have it
+repeated till it got into the cabin."
+
+"Why, what did I say?" protested the man.
+
+"That our skipper was a coward."
+
+"That I didn't.  Never said such a word."
+
+"But you and lots more have said what meant it, and my advice is this
+here--don't do it again, unless you want your back scratched by the
+bo'sun's mates."
+
+Sydney felt better after that, and as the days glided by the idle
+chatter grew less.
+
+It was all wonderfully new to the boy, and sometimes, when the men were
+allowed to catch a shark, or try to harpoon dolphins, or albicore,
+beautiful mackerel-like fish, with the pronged implement they called the
+grains, he found himself wondering why he had objected to go to sea.
+
+Then as his first nervousness wore off, and, with the rapidity common to
+a fresh young mind, he acquired the ordinary knowledge of his duty, he
+was always to the front in little bits of routine such as fell to the
+lot of the middies.  So prominent was he in these matters, that one day,
+after some hours of busy training, Roylance came to him.
+
+"First luff wants to speak to you, Belton," he said.
+
+Sydney flushed, and then the colour faded.
+
+"What have I been doing?" he said, hastily.
+
+"Ah, you'll see," said Roylance, with a very serious shake of the head.
+
+"Belt going up to the first luff," cried little Jenkins.  "Oh, my!  I'm
+sorry for you, old fellow."
+
+"What's Belton in for it?" said Bolton.  "Never mind, old chap.  If it's
+mast-head, there's a beautiful view."
+
+"And I'll give you a bit of rope to tie yourself on with, so that you
+won't fall when you go to sleep," whispered Jenkins.
+
+"Ah! and mind you fall when she heels over to leeward," said Bolton,
+hastily; "then you'll drop into the sea."
+
+"Get some biscuits for the poor beggar, Bolton," cried Jenkins.
+"Perhaps he'll be kept up there for a week!"
+
+"You'd better look sharp," whispered Roylance.  "He don't like to be
+kept waiting."
+
+"They're only making fun of me," thought Sydney, as he drew himself up,
+went hurriedly to where the first lieutenant was scanning the horizon
+with a glass, and waited till he had done, feeling very squeamish and
+uncomfortable the while.
+
+He stood there for some minutes, glancing behind him once, to see, as he
+expected, that his tormentors were keeping an eye upon him to see the
+result of his interview with the great magnate, who seemed to rule the
+ship--after the captain had had his say.
+
+It was painful work to stand there studying the set of the first
+lieutenant's pigtail, the cock of his hat, and the seams and buttons of
+his coat, till the glass was lowered, tucked under this marine grand
+vizier's arm, and he said angrily, as if speaking to a fish which sprang
+out of the water--
+
+"I told Mr Roylance to send that boy here."
+
+"_Beg_ pardon, sir; I've been here some time," said Sydney, touching his
+hat.
+
+"And suppose you have, young gentleman; it's your duty to wait, is it
+not?" said the lieutenant, sharply.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Don't speak.  If you want to be a good smart officer, listen, and don't
+make remarks till you are asked."
+
+Sydney wanted to say, "You asked me a question, sir," but he held his
+peace.
+
+"Now, Mr Belton," said the lieutenant, eyeing him severely, "I suppose
+you know that you occupy a very awkward position on board this ship?
+Don't answer."
+
+"What's coming?" thought Sydney, who was perspiring freely.
+
+"You are the captain's son."
+
+"Yes, I know that," thought Sydney.
+
+"And of course it naturally creates a little prejudice or jealousy
+against you."
+
+"Oh, do please put me out of my misery," thought Syd.
+
+"Mr Dallas has been talking to me about you a good deal."
+
+"What have I done to offend the second luff?" thought Syd.
+
+"And I quite agree with him."
+
+"What can it be?" thought Syd.
+
+"Now I am going to give you a bit of advice."
+
+"Yes, sir; thank--"
+
+"I told you not to speak, sir," cried the lieutenant, angrily.  "I
+advise you not to be conceited, not to jump at the conclusion that you
+are very clever, and not to begin to domineer over your messmates
+because they flatter and fawn upon you on the strength of your having
+thrashed Mr Terry.  You see I hear all these things."
+
+Sydney felt the colour rising.
+
+"Take that advice and you may, if you attend well to your studies in
+navigation, become a respectable officer.  Life is not all play, my lad,
+so think that one of these days you will be going up for your
+examination to pass for lieutenant.  Don't waste your time, and find
+yourself, when a call is made upon you, perfectly helpless and be turned
+back.  It will be years first, but years soon spin round.  There, I
+think that is all I have to say."
+
+"Frightened me nearly into fits, and only wanted to say that," thought
+Sydney.
+
+"No.  Just another word.  You think me a very gruff, fault-finding
+fellow, don't you?"
+
+Sydney was silent.
+
+"I asked you, Mr Belton, if you did not find me a very severe officer.
+Why don't you answer?"
+
+"Told me not, sir."
+
+"Humph!  Yes; I did.  But you may answer now.  You do find me very
+severe?"
+
+"Yes, sir; very."
+
+"And you don't like me?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"Humph!  That's frank, sir.  But I like it.  Shall I tell you why you
+don't like me?  I will.  Because I do my duty rigidly.  Now one word
+more.  Don't say a word to your messmates about what I tell you now.
+It's our secret, Mr Belton; and don't presume upon it, and go
+backwards."
+
+"I'll try not, sir."
+
+"Good.  Then look here.  You have been a very short time on board, and I
+have often found fault with you; but I like to be just.  On the whole,
+Mr Belton, I am very much pleased with your conduct.  I felt prejudiced
+against you, as I was afraid I was to have an addition to my young
+monkeys in the shape of a spoiled, petted boy.  I was ignorant then, for
+I did not know Captain Belton so well as I do now.  There: go to your
+duties.  You are awkward, clumsy, ignorant, and sadly wanting; but you
+have got on wonderfully, and I think you will turn out a very smart
+officer before you have done.  That will do."
+
+Sydney wanted to say a great deal, but he felt that he was dismissed,
+and he left the deck and went down below, to avoid his messmates.
+
+Not an easy task, for they were after him directly.
+
+"This isn't the way to the mast-head," cried Jenks.
+
+"Want the rope and the biscuit?" said Bolton.
+
+"What have you been doing?" cried Roylance.
+
+"Nearly everything that's wrong."
+
+"Then he has been wigging you?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I know.  It's because you didn't touch your hat to him the other day,"
+said another of the boys.
+
+Sydney was going to speak, but he caught sight of Terry lounging towards
+them, and that made him reticent.
+
+Time glided on, and then came the cry, "Land ho!" with everybody ready
+to gaze eagerly at the low-looking cloud lying far away on the water
+where sea and sky met.  This cloud gradually assumed the appearance of
+land, and Sydney gazed wonderingly at the island of Barbadoes, and began
+to ask himself whether he would be able to get leave to go ashore.
+
+But there was no landing allowed.  The stay was too brief, and before
+long they were sailing away toward the wonderful chain of islands that
+lie in the intensely blue Caribbean Sea.
+
+Jamaica at last, after a long calm, a name associated in Sydney's mind
+with sugar, molasses, and rum.  But to the great disappointment of all
+on board, there was to be no landing; even there the middies having to
+be content to buy cocoa-nuts, oranges, and sweetmeats off the black
+women whose boats hovered about the anchored frigate.
+
+There was a sister ship lying here, the _Orion_, just fresh in from a
+cruise round the islands, and the two captains were in constant
+communication, for here it proved to be, and not at Barbadoes, that
+Captain Belton was to open his sealed orders and learn definitely what
+were to be his next steps.
+
+What they were to be troubled the midshipmen very little, for there they
+were at anchor at what seemed to be a paradise--all waving grass, blue
+mountain, rivulet, and sunshine.  An island of beauty set in an amethyst
+sea.
+
+"And we can't go ashore," cried Jenkins.  "I've a good mind to swim for
+it."
+
+"One mouthful for the first shark," said Roylance.
+
+"Eh, what? sharks?  No sharks here, are there?"
+
+"Harbour swarms with them."
+
+"Gammon!"
+
+"Ask any of the men who have been here before, then," said Roylance.
+
+"But, really, Roy?  No gammon!"
+
+"It's a fact, I tell you.  Try it, if you doubt me."
+
+"N-no," said Jenkins, coolly; "you see one would have to swim in one's
+uniform, and get ashore so wet."
+
+"Naturally," said Roylance, laughing.
+
+"No," said Jenkins, "I wouldn't swim ashore naturally.  Looks so bad.
+I'll stop aboard."
+
+"Hullo, Bolton; what's the matter?" cried another of the middies.
+"Asked leave?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"What did he say?"
+
+"Said he'd mast-head the next fellow who asked leave to go ashore."
+
+"Strikes me we're off somewhere directly," said Roylance.  "Let's send
+Belton into the cabin to ask his father what he's going to do."
+
+"I shouldn't like to be Belt then," said Jenkins.  "Fancy the captain's
+face.  Hullo!  What's that?"
+
+"Somebody coming on board."
+
+"No! it's up anchor.  We're off again."
+
+"What a shame!" was chorussed; but the disappointment was forgotten
+directly in eagerness to know their new destination, somewhere else
+evidently in the deep blue western sea, and as the _Orion_ was weighing
+anchor too, it was likely that they were going to have stirring times.
+
+"Two trim frigates," said Roylance, as they leaned over the taffrail and
+watched the beautiful receding shore.  "Ah, Belt, if we were to meet
+those Mounseers now, I don't think your father would run away."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
+
+The fort of Saint Jacques, in La Haute, looked strong enough to keep
+almost any squadron at bay; and as the _Sirius_ lay pretty close in,
+those on board could see the French flag flying upon the solid square
+citadel, below which, and running out like arms, were outworks which
+seemed to bristle with cannon beside the low, cunningly-contrived
+batteries on the rocks near the entrance of the harbour.
+
+"A strong place, Bracy," said the captain, "and one where they ought to
+be able to sink any vessels we could bring against them."
+
+"Yes, sir, if we went at it hammer-and-tongs, shot for shot."
+
+"Exactly," said the captain, thoughtfully, as he held his glass to his
+eye, "and they would have English oak to fire at, while we had to send
+our shot against stone.  Ye-es, a quiet combined attack some night with
+a few hundred determined men in our boats, and we ought to take the
+place without firing a shot."
+
+"That's it, sir," said the first lieutenant; "and the only way."
+
+"But I don't like that," said the captain.
+
+"That stone, sir," replied the first lieutenant, as he looked back at an
+isolated patch of rock which rose up like the top of a mountain behind
+them about four miles astern.  "That would be an ugly spot for annoying
+us if they had had the gumption to stick a couple of guns there.  It
+would harass the attack terribly."
+
+"The wonder is, that they have not fortified the rock as an outwork to
+their fort."
+
+"Frenchmen don't think of everything, sir," said the lieutenant, dryly.
+
+"We must seize that rock, Bracy," said the captain, decisively.  "I'll
+communicate with the _Orion_ my intentions at once."
+
+Signals were made, a boat lowered down, and communications passed
+between the two commanding officers; and then Captain Belton gave orders
+for an exploring party to go and try and land on the rock, and see what
+its capabilities were for occupation.
+
+The second lieutenant received the instructions; the first cutter's crew
+was piped up, and as the lieutenant was about to assume his command, he
+caught sight of an eager-looking face.
+
+"Well, Mr Belton," he said, kindly.  "Want to go?"
+
+"Oh yes, sir," said Syd, eagerly.
+
+"In with you, my lad."
+
+Syd wanted no second invitation, and the next minute he was seated in
+the stern-sheets looking back at the side of the frigate, as the men's
+oars dipped regularly, and the boat gently rose and fell as she glided
+over the smooth water.
+
+The rock had a wonderful attraction for Sydney, as it rose clear out of
+the bright blue water; and as he lay back and half-closed his eyes, it
+was easy to imagine that it was the ruins of some old castle rising up
+with walls tier after tier to a height of about a hundred and fifty
+feet, with only a place here and there shelving down to the level of the
+water, the rock rising up for the most part perpendicularly from the
+deep sea which rose against the time and water-worn sides to fall back
+in sparkling foam.
+
+"What are we coming here for, Mr Dallas?" said Syd, in a low tone.
+
+"To survey the rock, and see if it will do for occupation."
+
+"But nobody would want to live here, sir."
+
+"More likely have to die here, my lad.  But we sailors are not allowed
+to ask questions.  We are told to do things, and we do them."
+
+"I only wanted to know," said Syd, apologetically.
+
+"I was not finding fault, Belton.  Now, let me see; we've got to land.
+Where's the best place?"
+
+As he spoke he altered the direction of the boat, which he kept a short
+distance from where the sea broke, and steered right round the rock,
+while his companion divided his time between examining the various
+ledges and gazing into the transparent depths below.
+
+It was soon evident that landing would be rather difficult, only two
+places suggesting themselves as being feasible; one being like a rough
+pier, the other a spot where masses of coral rock run down into the sea,
+with here and there awkward, jagged-looking, scattered pieces showing
+their heads, sometimes just level with the water, and at others being
+completely covered.
+
+After the boat had been completely round the rock, which apparently
+covered a space of some acres, the young officer gave the word, and the
+lead was thrown over to try for soundings and the possibility of there
+being good anchorage for a ship that might want to lay off the edge.
+But the lead went down, down, down to the end of the line wherever it
+was cast, even close in to the rock, indicating that it rose up almost
+steeple-like from profound depths.
+
+"Soon settled that point, Mr Belton," said the lieutenant.  "The next
+thing is to land.  Back in, my lads, on the swell, and as soon as we
+jump off pull clear again.  I think we can do it yonder where the tuft
+of green weed is growing."
+
+The men obeyed, and after one or two cautious approaches, the young
+officer, who had carefully watched his time, sprang from the thwart
+before him right on to the rock, made a second bound, and was clear of
+the following wave before it had time to flood the natural pier.
+
+"Now, Mr Belton, can you do that?"
+
+For answer, as the boat was again backed in, Syd leaped out, but did not
+calculate his time well, and sprang into a few inches of water, which
+went flying amidst the laughter of the men.  But the next spring took
+him up alongside Mr Dallas.
+
+"A little too soon, Belton," he said.  "Now, one of you lads come too.
+Keep her well off, coxswain; sometimes a good roller comes unexpectedly,
+and if you are not prepared she may be thrown high and dry, stove in."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir," shouted the coxswain.  Then the man told leaped ashore
+easily enough, and the primary survey of the place began.
+
+It was not an easy task, for from the few square yards of level stone
+where they stood there seemed to be no means of getting farther, till
+Syd suggested that if they could get up a bit of wall-like rock there
+was a ledge from which they could work themselves sideways to a rift in
+the side over the sea, and from that perhaps they could get higher.
+
+"But we must be careful; it is only a few inches, and if we lose our
+hold, down we go into deep water."
+
+"It would only be a bathe, sir," said Syd, laughing.
+
+"Oh, I don't mind the bath, Belton.  I am thinking there may be hungry
+sharks about."
+
+"Ugh!" ejaculated Syd, with a shudder, as he glanced at the clear blue
+water.
+
+"No fear of a fall though, if we are careful."
+
+"Beg pardon, sir; I could get along there," said the man.
+
+"Yes, my lad; but I'll try it first," said the lieutenant; and he was
+about to start along the perilous little shelf after a short climb, when
+Syd suggested that they should have a line thrown to them from the boat.
+
+"Good idea, Belton," said the lieutenant, who hailed the boat, now lying
+fifty yards away, and she came in; the rope was thrown to them, made
+fast about Syd's chest, and while the lieutenant and the sailor held the
+slack ready to pay out, the boy clambered on about twenty feet, and then
+stepped boldly out upon the narrow shelf in the face of the almost
+perpendicular rock, crept carefully along to the rift, and entered it to
+come back and shout all right.
+
+With Syd holding the rope tightly round the edge of the cleft, and the
+sailor keeping it fast, the lieutenant had no difficulty in getting
+along; the sailor followed, and they passed along a natural passage to
+where the rock sloped away sufficiently for them to mount again to a
+fairsized ledge, from the end of which there was a ridge of broken rock
+giving foothold for climbers.  This they surmounted, Syd going up first
+like a goat, and holding the rope for his officer, and lowering it in
+turn for the sailor.
+
+"Why, Belton," said Mr Dallas, "this place is a natural fortress.  All
+we should have to do would be to make parapets, and mount some guns.
+It's a little Gibraltar in its way."
+
+They went on exploring, or rather climbing from block to block and ledge
+to ledge, till after some little difficulty the summit was reached, from
+which the lieutenant signalled with a handkerchief, an acknowledgment
+being seen from the ship.
+
+The top was a slope of some twenty by thirty yards, and from here as
+they looked about over the edge a better idea of the capabilities of the
+place could be formed, and they looked down on what only needed a little
+of the work of man to make the place impregnable so long as there was no
+treachery from within.
+
+The great peculiarity of the rock was, that from where they stood they
+could gaze down into a chasm beyond which rose a mass similar to that on
+which they stood.  In fact, roughly speaking, the stony mount seemed to
+have been cleft or split in twain, giving it somewhat the aspect of a
+bishop's mitre, save that the lower part between the cleft expanded till
+it reached the sea.
+
+"Well," said the lieutenant, in a satisfied tone, as they climbed down
+into the chasm, and gazed from the bottom out at either end toward the
+sea, in the one case to see the _Sirius_ lying with her masts describing
+arcs on the blue sky; in the other case the white houses and port of
+Saint Jacques.  "Well, Belton, if I had been set to work to design a
+rock upon which to plant a fort, I could never have schemed so good a
+one as this."
+
+"Why?" said Syd, in his outspoken way.  "It's very awkward to get up
+unless you make some stairs."
+
+"The more awkward the worse for an enemy.  But can't you see, my lad, we
+can mount our guns on platforms at either end of this tiny valley; and
+stow our men, stores, and ammunition there in the bottom of the rift.
+Nothing can reach them from outside.  Gibraltar's nothing to it."
+
+"Isn't it?" said Syd, who felt that he ought to say something.
+
+"No, my boy, nothing.  There's one thing though--I don't see water."
+
+"Water?" said Syd, laughing, as he looked round at the sea.
+
+"Drinking water, sir.  An enemy would have very little difficulty in
+taking a fort where the defenders have no water.  Must make a cistern
+and store some up.  Come along."
+
+He led the way, and they descended without much difficulty to a spot
+from whence it seemed possible to mount the other mass of rock, up which
+they toiled with more difficulty, for in some places it nearly
+approached the perpendicular.  Had it not been for a series of rough
+cracks or splits in the side, some of which seemed to descend to vast
+depths, but whose edges gave good foothold, the ascent would have been
+impossible.
+
+They reached the top, through a little mutual help, signalled again, and
+after gazing down into the chasm, which the lieutenant looked upon as a
+splendid find, they slowly went down to the little natural pier, the
+boat was carefully backed in, the sailor leaped lightly from the wet
+rock on to the gunwale, and then stepped into his place.
+
+"Now you, Mr Belton," said the lieutenant; "and don't get wet this
+time."
+
+"No," said Syd, "I'll time it better;" and he let the sea flood the rock
+as the boat rose high, and then descend twice before he made this
+attempt.
+
+"Now then!" cried the lieutenant, as the wave glided back from the rough
+surface, and the boat's stern was seen descending easily a few feet
+away.
+
+Syd trotted over the wet rock with the water flying up and glittering in
+the sunshine at every step, reached the edge, and sprang lightly on to
+the gunwale just as the boat was at its lowest.  Nothing in fact could
+have been better timed, but he had not calculated upon one thing.
+
+The sailor had left the edge of the boat wet, and Syd's shoes were
+soaked and slippery, so that one of them glided sidewise; there was no
+chance of recovery, and he went down headlong into the deep.  It was so
+sudden that he was below the surface with the water thundering in his
+ears almost before he was aware that he had fallen.  But he was a good
+swimmer, and had practised diving often enough, and he knew that he had
+only to take a few strokes to rise clear of the boat, and then a few
+more in order to be taken in.
+
+As he swam below after going down some distance he was aware of what
+seemed to be a black cloud over his head, which he knew was the boat;
+then he was rising again through the sunlit water, and as his head rose
+into the sunshine a cold chill of horror paralysed every energy, for he
+knew that he was almost within the jaws of death.
+
+It was all so rapid that he hardly knew how it took place; but he had
+been long enough at sea to know that the long, thin, curved shadow
+approaching him was a huge shark, and that before he could reach the
+boat the monster would have seized him.
+
+He was conscious of a wild shouting in the boat, of the rapid beating of
+oars which made the water fly up in fountains; then, as he swam with all
+his might, of a violent blow on the shoulder followed by a jerk, and
+then half insensible from the shock he was being dragged over the boat's
+side.
+
+Amid the babel of voices that ensued, Syd made out a few words here and
+there.
+
+One man said: "It's broke my arm a'most; the beggar made such a jerk."
+
+"It's broke this oar," growled a well-known voice.  "I give it him just
+in the jaws as he turned over."
+
+"Ah!" said one of the men, "if that had been steel 'stead o' wood you'd
+ha' gone right through him."
+
+"Yes," growled the boatswain, "'stead o' having a broken oar.  Well, if
+the skipper says I must pay for it, why I must."
+
+"Yah! nonsense!" muttered another.  "What, arter saving his boy's life?"
+
+All this brought back to Syd's memory matters which he had seen dimly in
+the exciting moments during which he was saved from a horrible death;
+and that which he had not seen, imagination and the men's words
+supplied.  But he could recall something of a sturdy man standing up in
+the boat and making a thrust at the shark, and while he was realising
+that this man was Barney, one of the sailors said--
+
+"And if I hadn't ketched hold o' you, Mr Bo'sun, by the waistband o'
+your breeches, you'd ha' gone overboard, and Jack shark would have had
+you."
+
+"Ay, my lad, he would," growled Barney; "but I don't believe he'd a
+liked me, for I must be precious tough by now."
+
+"Say, lads," said another voice, "what's the reward for saving a
+bo'sun's life?"
+
+"Nothing," said Barney.  "'Sides, you've on'y stopped somebody's
+promotion.  Steady there!"
+
+At that moment, as Syd lay there with a misty feeling of confusion
+troubling him, it seemed from the rocking of the boat that the
+lieutenant had leaped on board, and the next moment he was kneeling
+down, and his hands were busy about Syd.
+
+"Belton, my dear lad," he said, excitedly, "where are you hurt?"
+
+Syd looked at him wildly, and saw him through the mist.
+
+"Hurt?" he said, after making an effort to speak, and feeling deathly
+sick the while, "I--I don't know."
+
+"Great heavens!" cried the lieutenant, "I would sooner it had been me.
+But I see no blood, bo'sun."
+
+"No, sir; I've been agoin' over him," growled Barney; "and he's got all
+his arms, and legs, and, yes, his head's all right.  You see I shoved
+that oar in Jack's mouth just as he turned over to grab him."
+
+"But the boy is half dead."
+
+"Ketched him a horful crack with his snout, I think it weer, sir; for,
+poor dear lad, he were knocked side wise.  He'll come round."
+
+All this time it was to Syd just as if the lieutenant and the boatswain
+were moving about over him in a mist; but as some water was splashed in
+his face, and his brows were bathed, the mist slowly passed away, and he
+suddenly struggled up into a sitting position.
+
+"That's better," cried the lieutenant, eagerly.  "Are you in pain?"
+
+"Shoulder hurts a little, sir," said Syd, huskily; "but where's the
+shark?"
+
+"Yonder, sir," said the boatswain, pointing to about fifty yards away,
+where a something that looked like a thick miniature lateen sail was
+gliding through the water.
+
+"A narrow escape, Belton," said the lieutenant; "but you are saved,
+thank heaven.  Give way, my men."
+
+"Arn't we going to try and serve out Master Jack, sir?" said one of the
+men.
+
+"No, my lad.  What can we do without bait or line?"
+
+"Like to spritsail-yard him, sir?" said Strake, touching his hat.
+
+"What's spritsail-yarding?" said Syd, who was now trying to squeeze some
+of the water out of his drenched uniform.
+
+"Ketching your shark and then running a little spar through his nose,"
+whispered the bo'sun, as the men gave way and the boat surged through
+the water.  "This here's lashed so as he can't get it out, and it keeps
+him from sinking, as he moves it afore him."
+
+"But it's horribly cruel," said Syd, pausing in his wringing process.
+
+"Well, 'tarn't nice for him, sir," said the boatswain; "but then you see
+it's cruel of Master Jack to be taking off arms and legs, and it stops
+that, sir."
+
+This argument was unanswerable for the moment, and just then another
+shark was sighted, and its appearance fascinated Syd, who shuddered as
+he gazed at the monster, and thought of the horrible fate he had
+escaped.
+
+"I wonder what father will say to me when he learns of my adventure," he
+said to himself.
+
+But he had very little more time for thought, the boat soon being
+alongside; the falls were hooked on, and they were soon after swinging
+from the davits.
+
+The first person Syd's eyes rested upon was Terry, whose face expanded
+into a grin as he saw the middy's drenched condition, and the boy turned
+away angrily, to see if he could catch his father's eye.  But he only
+saw Lieutenant Dallas making his report on the quarter-deck, and his
+father standing there with a glass in his hand, which he directed at the
+rock, then seemed to give some orders, and the lieutenant saluted and
+came away.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
+
+"Why, Belton, not changing your duds?" said the lieutenant, as he
+returned from his colloquy with his commanding officer.
+
+"No, sir; just going to.  Did my--did the captain know I was nearly
+seized by that shark?"
+
+"Yes; I told him."
+
+"What did he say, sir?"
+
+"That you were to be more careful."
+
+Syd stared.
+
+"Was that all, sir?"
+
+"Yes, my lad.  I think he said something about you'd grow more clever by
+and by.  But go and get on some dry things."
+
+Syd felt crestfallen and hurt, that after such a terrific adventure his
+father should be so cool.
+
+But down below the news had already spread, and as he went to the berth
+to change his things, a knot of his messmates were ready and eager to
+question him for the endorsement of what they had heard from the
+boatswain and the men.
+
+He told what he had to tell rather unwillingly, and when he had done
+regretted that he had said a word, for the careless young dogs only
+laughed.
+
+"That wasn't half an adventure," cried Bolton.  "You should have drawn
+your dirk, dived under him, and slit him up.  That's what the niggers
+do."
+
+"Yes," said Jenkins, "or else have had hold of his tail, and made him
+tow you.  I would."
+
+"Why, Jenky," cried Roylance, "he'd have taken you like a pill."
+
+"I believe," cried Syd, angrily, "that you'd all have liked it better if
+I'd come back with one leg snapped off."
+
+"Yes," sneered Terry, who was laughing by the door.
+
+"No, no," cried Jenkins, maliciously.  "Mike Terry would have liked to
+see him without any fistusses."
+
+"Why?" said Roylance.
+
+"'Cause he could lick him then."
+
+"I'll put that down in my log, Baby," said Terry, with an ugly laugh.
+"You're getting deeply in my debt, and you'll have to pay, or I shall
+have to pay you."
+
+"Oh, lor'," cried the little middy, diving under the table in mock
+alarm, and then slowly raising his head up on the other side, to peer at
+Terry.  "What would become of me if I hadn't a good banker."
+
+"Who's your banker, Baby?" said Roylance, mockingly.
+
+"Syd Belton there," and there was a laugh.
+
+Terry ground his teeth together, as he turned away and went on deck,
+followed by a roar of laughter.
+
+"Look here, I say," cried Syd, who bore his honours very mildly, "you
+shouldn't tease Terry like that, Jenkins; he'll serve you out for it
+some day."
+
+"He daren't.  I should come to you."
+
+"And I shouldn't help you, for you'd deserve it."
+
+"Very well," said the little fellow, "I'd fight my own battle.  Who's
+afraid?  Cock-a-doodle-do!"
+
+He gave a clever imitation of a pugnacious game-cock, after clapping his
+hands against his sides.
+
+"Terry wouldn't touch him," said Roylance, laughing.  "Little people are
+licenced to be saucy.  But I say, Belton, what's the rock like?"
+
+Syd described it as well as he could, and he was listened to with eager
+attention, but it did not seem probable to Roylance that anything
+further would come of it.
+
+He was undeceived the next morning though, for after signalling and
+visiting of the two commanders, it appeared that something definite was
+to be done, and soon after the stir began.
+
+"Here, Belton," said Roylance, "what do you say to this?  I believe
+we're going to attack the town."
+
+Contradiction came the next moment in the excitement on deck.
+
+"This means business," said Roylance, as he stood with Syd, watching the
+carrying out of certain orders; and in due time two long guns were
+placed ready, the barge and the launch were lowered down, and
+gun-carriages and tackle were hoisted down into each.
+
+The men worked well, for this was a change from the monotony of cruising
+to and fro on the look-out for ships which never came, or which when
+overhauled only proved to be friends.
+
+The sea was like glass, and in the course of the next few hours the guns
+were got ashore, shears being erected on the rock, and the heavy masses
+of metal and their carriages were landed, beside a good deal of other
+material likely to be useful in occupying the rock.
+
+And all this while great excitement prevailed as to who were to be the
+lucky ones told off for the garrison, as it was laughingly called.  But
+they were not long kept in doubt, for it was soon whispered that
+Lieutenant Dallas was to be in charge, with about a dozen men and a
+junior officer or two.
+
+Who were to be the junior officers, was the question at the mess, the
+prevailing decision arrived at being that Bolton and Baby Jenks were the
+pair.
+
+Early next morning the crews of the barge and second cutter were piped
+away, and a busy scene followed, as barrels and cases were handed down,
+till the boats were well-laden, and then there was a cessation, the
+crews evidently waiting for their orders.
+
+It was a glorious day, and after looking at the men selected, Sydney
+gazed longingly at the stack of things lying on the rock, covered with a
+couple of sails and some tarpaulin, which, in case of wind arising, were
+kept down by casks planted on their corners.
+
+The place looked very tempting to Sydney, though he could not help a
+shudder running through him as he gazed at the little natural pier,
+which the sea kept flooding and leaving bare.
+
+"I dare say there are plenty of sharks hanging about," he said; and once
+more the accident seemed to repeat itself vividly.
+
+He had soon something else to think about, for he saw Lieutenant Dallas
+come out of the captain's cabin, where he had evidently been to receive
+his orders, which was the case, and they were simple enough.
+
+"The rock would be invaluable to an enemy, Mr Dallas," the captain had
+said; "and if they occupied it, as the only safe channel to the port
+lies close by, they could annoy us fearfully, perhaps sink one of our
+vessels, and to storm such a place would mean terrible loss of life.  So
+you will occupy it and hold it at all hazards.  Either I or my consort
+will communicate as often as we can, and you shall be well supplied with
+stores before those you have get low."
+
+"I understand, sir," said Dallas; "and I will hold the rock to the
+last."
+
+"Your courage may not be put to the test, Mr Dallas," said the captain.
+"_Au revoir_.  Make yourself and your men as comfortable as you can.  I
+have been ashore and examined the place."
+
+"You have, sir?"
+
+"Yes, I went in the night, and I am quite satisfied that it can be held
+against any odds.  Good-bye."
+
+He shook hands, and the young lieutenant went out, wondering how the
+captain could have managed, and then hurried to the side to see if the
+last arrangements had been made.
+
+He was busy over this, having passed near to Syd without taking any
+notice of him, much to the lad's annoyance, for he had tried to catch
+the lieutenant's eye.
+
+At this moment Roylance came along toward where he was standing, but he
+paid no heed, for something else had taken his attention.
+
+The boatswain had come on deck, and made his way to the side, where he
+touched his hat to Lieutenant Dallas, and then proceeded to obey some
+orders which he had received.  Syd was about to intercept him, his
+longing to be one of the party increasing.
+
+"I wouldn't care," he said to himself, "if they'd let me help land the
+stores.  I did go out first, and here I've been left out of all the fun
+because I slipped and went overboard.  It's too bad."
+
+He was hurrying after the boatswain, when something else caught his eye.
+A member of the mess came fussing up on deck, fuming with importance,
+and Syd turned and was uttering some angry expression, when he found
+himself face to face with Roylance.
+
+"Oh, what a shame!" cried Sydney.
+
+"What's the matter?"
+
+"Terry's going in the barge to land the stores."
+
+"And who's going in the second cutter?" said Roylance.
+
+"I don't know; I didn't hear.  I did hope they'd order me to go in the
+barge."
+
+"Why, what a cocky chap you are, Belt!  You've had no experience at
+all."
+
+"I know that, but I want to get it, and I can't learn to take charge of
+a boat unless they send me.  Who's going in the second cutter?"
+
+"I am."
+
+"You?  Oh, how lucky you fellows are!"
+
+"I don't think there'll be much luck in it, for the heat will be
+terrible, and I don't suppose we shall have been there very long before
+we wish ourselves back on board."
+
+"Oh, I don't know."
+
+"But I do.  Think of the work of getting those guns and things up to the
+top."
+
+"But I thought the party who were going to stay would do that?"
+
+"Of course: that's it.  The barge is coming back on board as soon as she
+has landed her stores, and the second cutter to-night."
+
+"Well, then you'll only have all day."
+
+"Nonsense; I'm going to stop."
+
+"Oh!  You're as lucky as Terry."
+
+"Yes, but I wish he was coming back.  Not a pleasant messmate to have
+ashore with me.  I'm sure you wouldn't like to be along with him."
+
+"Perhaps not; but I did want to come, for I know so much about the
+rock.--Oh!  I did want to go."
+
+"Better stop on board, lad.  I dare say we shall have a good deal of
+trouble with the men, though they do like Mr Dallas."
+
+"Oh, but I shouldn't mind that," said Syd, thoughtfully.  "I say."
+
+"Well."
+
+"Couldn't you manage to smuggle me off in your boat?"
+
+"I could; but look here, you are the captain's son.  Go and ask leave to
+go, even if you have to come back in the boats."
+
+"Oh, yes; I'm the captain's son," said Sydney, bitterly; "and that's the
+very reason why I should not be allowed."
+
+"What, for fear you should be eaten up by the shark this time?"
+
+"Joke away; you're all right," said Syd, sulkily.
+
+"Don't take it like that, Belton, old fellow," said Roylance, laying his
+hand upon his arm.  "I'd a hundred times rather have you than Terry.  I
+say, look! here's the first luff.  I know he likes us fellows to be
+eager to learn our profession.  Go and ask him to let you go."
+
+"Shall I?" said Syd, hesitatingly.
+
+"Yes; go along.  He seems always harsh and rough with everybody, but he
+isn't a bad one when you come to know him."
+
+"But he's busy now."
+
+"Never mind; go on."
+
+It seemed a very simple thing to do to go up to the officer, touch your
+hat, and ask leave to go with the boats, but there was that peculiar
+something so hard to get over which keeps lads back from proffering a
+petition, and saves their elders and those in authority very often the
+pain of having to refuse.
+
+Syd suffered severely on that occasion from this peculiar form of
+timidity, till he saw one boat manned and pull off with its load.
+
+In another quarter of an hour the other would be ready, he knew, and
+then his chance would be gone.
+
+The first lieutenant passed along the deck, and Syd thought he looked
+very severe.  He came back, and he looked worse.  It was impossible to
+ask him, and Syd shrank away and went to where Roylance was busy
+speaking to the coxswain of his boat.
+
+"I say," whispered Syd, taking him by the sleeve.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Ask the luff to let me go with you, there's a good fellow."
+
+Roylance gave him a merry look.
+
+"Well, you are a queer one, Belt," he said.  "Not afraid to stand up
+before Mike Terry, and yet daren't go and ask the luff to let you go
+ashore."
+
+"I'm not exactly afraid," said Syd.
+
+"But you daren't go."
+
+"Yes, I dare," he said; and he went up boldly now.
+
+"Beg pardon, sir," he said, touching his hat.
+
+"Eh?  Yes, Mr Belton; what is it?"
+
+"May I go with the second cutter, sir?"
+
+"You?  Mr Roylance is going."
+
+"Yes, sir.  I wanted to go too."
+
+"Like to take Mr Jenkins as well as Mr Bolton for a good game?"
+
+"Yes, sir; very much," said Syd, eagerly, in astonishment that the
+severe officer was so amiable.
+
+"Humph! of course.  Look here, Mr Belton, do you know what the old
+proverb says?"
+
+"About idleness, sir?"
+
+"No, not that one.  This:--A boy is a boy."
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Two boys are half a boy."
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"And three boys are no boy at all.  I want some work done, so I send one
+boy with each boat.  Hi! bo'sun; better take another breaker of water;
+you may not find any, and we do not want to communicate for some hours."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir," cried Strake, and he busied himself about the order.
+
+"Got your arms all right, and plenty of ammunition?"
+
+"Yes, sir," said Roylance.
+
+"May I go, sir?" said Syd, tentatively.
+
+But the lieutenant did not appear to have heard him, and stood giving
+order after order to the officer and the boat's crew, asking endless
+questions about the stores they had on board.
+
+"And I should so like to have gone," thought Syd, as he gazed longingly
+at the rock, standing up grey and brown and green against the deep blue
+sea, whose waters washed with creamy foam the bottom of the huge mass of
+stone.
+
+He turned with a sigh to watch the first lieutenant, who was now busily
+talking to Lieutenant Dallas and Roylance, and Syd knew that in another
+minute or two the boat, would be pushed off, when the boatswain came up
+behind him.
+
+"Aren't you going with us, Master Syd?"
+
+"No, Barney," he replied, sadly; "I'm not going."
+
+"Why don't yer ask the luff to let yer go, sir?  Be a bit of a change."
+
+"I did ask him, Barney."
+
+"And did he say you warn't to go, sir?"
+
+"No; he seemed as if he wouldn't answer me."
+
+"Didn't say downright as you shouldn't go?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Well, sir, you're a young gent, and the capen's son, and course I
+wouldn't tell yer to do nothin' wrong; but in the old days when we was
+goin' to cut out ships from under the guns of a fort, or to land and
+upset some town, the young gents used to smuggle theirselves into the
+boat and get down among the men's legs, and the skipper and the luff
+wouldn't see 'em."
+
+"Wouldn't see them--why?"
+
+"'Cause bein' very young gents they wouldn't send 'em or give 'em leave
+to go 'cause o' the danger, but they liked 'em to go all the same,
+'cause it showed they'd got sperret in 'em."
+
+"Barney!" whispered Syd, looking at the bo'sun searchingly.
+
+"No, sir; I won't say go," was whispered back.  "You can't 'spect it.
+But--"
+
+Syd's eyes sparkled and he gave a cautious look round to see that the
+captain was on the quarter-deck, and that the first lieutenant had his
+back to him and was energetically insisting upon something to Roylance.
+
+The next moment Syd was over the side, and down amongst the crew.
+
+"Hide me somewhere, lads," he whispered eagerly.  There was a laugh.
+
+"Arn't you scared about meeting Jack Shark again, sir?" said one of the
+men.
+
+"Hold your row, Jim," said another.  "This way, sir."  There was a
+little scuffling about, and the next minute, half fearing that he was
+playing ostrich and had only concealed his head, Syd was listening.  He
+had hardly ceased moving when he heard the first lieutenant saying
+something to Lieutenant Dallas, who was evidently descending the side.
+
+"I wouldn't depend too much on that tackle.  The guns are very heavy.
+Now, Mr Roylance; in with you."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir," came in peculiar tones; and Syd felt disgusted that he
+should not have been able to come down into the boat in the same way,
+instead of sneaking in like a rat.
+
+"Seems to be a good deal of swell on amongst these little rocks," said
+the first lieutenant.  "You'll land at the other place."
+
+"Oh, yes," said the second lieutenant; and from where he lay Syd could
+just get a glimpse of him as he stood up in the stern-sheets.
+
+"He must have seen me," he thought; and looking upwards, there right
+over the side, and quite plainly to be seen, were the head and shoulders
+of the first lieutenant gazing down into the boat.
+
+Perfectly certain now that he should be shouted at for trying to get off
+in the boat, Sydney lay perfectly still, waiting for the unpleasant
+order; but oddly enough thinking at the same time that ignominious as it
+would be to crawl up the ladder and climb on board, he should be spared
+one pain--Terry would not be there to sneer at him.
+
+"Might have been worse," he thought, as he gathered himself together,
+ready to spring out and get the trouble over.
+
+But the order did not come, and he only heard a growling sound as the
+boatswain said something to one of the men.
+
+"They're waiting for something," thought Syd, as a low talking arose on
+deck; and he heard a voice reply which he knew was his father's, and the
+blood flushed to his cheeks.
+
+"Give way, my lads!" came at last, and Syd exultantly exclaimed to
+himself, as the tension was taken off--
+
+"He didn't see me," and he heard the oars splash, and felt that the boat
+was gliding through the water.
+
+But Sydney was not quite right, for as soon as the boat had put off, the
+first lieutenant went aft to where the captain was standing, examining
+the rock.
+
+"Well, Mr Bracy," he said, as he closed the glass with a snap.
+
+"I thought I'd tell you, sir, that Mr Belton came and asked leave to go
+in the last boat."
+
+"Did you give him permission?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"That's right."
+
+"But--"
+
+"Eh?" said Captain Belton, raising his eyebrows; "he has taken French
+leave and gone?"
+
+"Yes; he was stowed away there amidships."
+
+"And you forbade his going?" said the captain, frowning.
+
+"Oh, no, I did not forbid him, sir."
+
+"Well, well, Mr Bracy; we were boys once," said the captain, smiling.
+
+"Yes, sir, I'm afraid I did the same."
+
+"And I more than twice, Bracy.  One must be a little blind sometimes
+with a boy of spirit.  Bit of change for him.  How is he getting on?"
+
+"Capitally.  Full of promise."
+
+"Then I hope he will perform.  By the way, there was one thing I did not
+mention to you--a spar for a flagstaff.  I should like them to be able
+to hoist the colours when anything comes in sight."
+
+"I thought of it, sir.  They have everything I could think of, and at a
+pinch ought to be able to hold out for three months."
+
+"I don't think the pinch will come, Bracy.--Ah, they are getting close
+in."
+
+"Yes," said the lieutenant, shading his eyes.  "First boat is landing
+her additional stores.  One comfort at this time of year, there is no
+fear of rain, so that they need not trouble much about getting covered
+in to-night."
+
+"No," said the captain, thoughtfully, "but I hope Mr Dallas will get
+everything covered in all the same."
+
+They were following the second boat, as it rose and fell on the
+mirror-like surface of the water, till she was cleverly run alongside
+the rocks, when the captain opened his glass once more, and stood
+watching--the first lieutenant seeing a smile come over his stern
+features, and rightly interpreting that he was gazing at his son more
+than the actions of the men, who were quickly landing the additional
+stores that they had taken to the rock; the tackle previously rigged up
+being lowered again and again, and the cases and kegs cleverly swung
+ashore, the men dipping their oars at the word of command, and every
+time a box was swung up the boat was drawn out of danger, ready to be
+backed in when the tackle was once more lowered down.
+
+"Yes," said the captain, thoughtfully, "I have no doubt that Mr Dallas
+will prove himself most able in this business.  Weather seems settled
+down, Bracy."
+
+"Yes, sir; but you know what it is in these latitudes.  A smile one
+minute and a kick the next, and when it does rain--well, it's a good job
+it doesn't last, for we don't want another flood."
+
+The captain went on pacing the quarter-deck, looking very cold and
+stern, but with a glow about his heart.
+
+"He'll make a smart officer," he said to himself,--"one of whom we shall
+be proud.  I'll write and tell Tom about this.  How he will chuckle and
+enjoy it!  But I suppose I must lecture the young dog when he comes on
+board to-night.  Discipline must be maintained."
+
+That evening, after the men had been busily helping, the barge came back
+and was hoisted on board.  The captain walked on deck, but recollected
+that it was in the second cutter that Syd had gone, and he went back to
+his cabin.
+
+Just at sundown the second boat returned with the coxswain and crew, and
+she was hoisted up.
+
+"Humph!" said the captain to himself, as he heard the squeaking sound
+made by the falls, "I will not send for him to-night; I'll have a few
+words with him in the morning.  Let me see, I'll send word to him by
+Strake.  Bah! how absurd.  The bo'sun has gone ashore to help putting up
+the tackle for hoisting the guns."
+
+In the course of the evening, when the stars were blazing overhead, and
+the rock was invisible in the soft, transparent darkness of the night,
+the captain was walking up and down, when he encountered the first
+lieutenant, and they compared notes about the beauty of the night, and
+how advantageous it was for the unhoused men ashore.
+
+"By the way, Bracy," said the captain, "have you reproved Mr Belton?
+because, if not, leave it to me."
+
+"Oh, certainly, sir; but of course I have not had a chance."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"I supposed that he had only gone ashore for the day, and would come
+back with the last boat."
+
+"Well, hasn't he?"
+
+"No, sir; he has stopped ashore."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.
+
+That was a busy day on the rock, which was in places so hot to their
+bare feet that the men laughed as they stepped gingerly about.
+
+"I say, mate," said one of them in the intervals of hauling up a case,
+and just as he had noted that Syd was close by, "d'yer know what's for
+dinner to-day?"
+
+"Ay, lad; cold junk and biscuit."
+
+"Better than that, messmate; on'y it wants the young gen'leman to set to
+work and ketch some shrimps for sarce."
+
+"What d'yer mean, lad?"
+
+"Fried soles, lad, fried soles," said the other.  "Mine's 'most done
+brown."
+
+Syd was not supposed to be on duty, but he was so much interested in the
+whole affair that he was as busy as any one, and it was while he was
+high up on the rock, looking on at the rigging up of a couple of spars,
+crane-fashion, for hoisting the stores, that he came across the
+lieutenant, who gave him a peculiar look and a smile, and then went on
+giving a few orders before going higher to re-inspect the chasm, prior
+to getting the stores and light things in there.
+
+"Couldn't see yer, Master Syd," whispered the boatswain.  "'Stonishing
+how invisible young gents is sometimes."
+
+But there was little time for talking.  Work was the order of the day,
+and so clever were the contrivances for hoisting, and so well did the
+men work, that by sundown all the light things were under cover in the
+chasm, and only the guns, barrels, and heavy cases down by the natural
+pier.  These latter were covered in turn, and made fast with pieces of
+rock piled upon the edge of the tarpaulins, after which the men of the
+barge embarked and went back to the ship, the crew of the second cutter
+following, and the garrison being gathered in their new quarters, high
+up in the cleft of the great rock, for a hearty meal, to which Sydney
+came down from the bare fork of the cleft, ravenously hungry, and at
+once fell to.
+
+He was partaking of his portion with eager zest, when Roylance, who had
+been busy below seeing to the covering of the barrels, came up.
+
+"Why, Belt," he said, in a whisper; "not gone back?"
+
+"No," said Syd, laconically.
+
+"But I thought you'd gone back in the second cutter."
+
+"No," said Syd, with his mouth full; "I did mean to, but I've been
+exploring, and when I came back the boat was gone."
+
+"What are you doing here?" said a sharp voice.
+
+"Eating," said Syd, without looking up.
+
+"Don't be insolent, sir.  I am one of the officers of this expedition,
+and on duty.  You have no business here."
+
+"Look here, Terry," said Syd, eating away in the most nonchalant
+fashion; "I'm hungry, and don't want to leave off and spoil my dinner.
+I don't want to quarrel to-night."
+
+"This is insufferable," cried Terry, who felt clothed in authority as
+second officer of the expedition, and striding away, he found out the
+lieutenant, and stated what he had seen.
+
+"He had no business here, Mr Terry," said the lieutenant, quietly; "but
+of course we can do nothing to-night."
+
+"If we signalled for a boat, sir?"
+
+"One would come and fetch him off, but would create unnecessary alarm.
+And look here, Mr Terry, is it not time you forgot old sores, and
+became good friends with your messmates?"
+
+"I don't understand you, sir," said Terry, haughtily.  "Then I'll try
+and be plainer," said the lieutenant, rather sharply.  "Don't you think
+it is a pity that you should let your enmity to Mr Belton make you jump
+at a chance to do him a bad turn?"
+
+"I came here, sir, to do my duty, and I reported misconduct on the part
+of one of the midshipmen."
+
+"Who once gave you a good thrashing, Mr Terry, for playing the bully.
+There, there, my good lad, forget and forgive, and don't try and usurp
+my duties here.  I will look after Mr Belton."
+
+"Such confounded favouritism to the captain's son!" muttered Terry; but
+it was loud enough for the lieutenant to hear, and he exclaimed, hotly--
+
+"And if you dare to say such a thing as that again, sir, I'll clap you
+under arrest, and put Mr Belton in your place."  Terry slunk off and
+stood about sulking till the men had finished, and were then set to work
+to make a temporary shelter for the night, which was quickly done by
+tying the edges of the sails they had brought to some spars, and resting
+these against the perpendicular side of the rock in the cleft, thus
+forming a lean-to, which was spacious enough to cover the men and the
+stores and ammunition already protected by the tarpaulins thrown over
+them.
+
+Roylance and Syd were standing together in the darkness, watching the
+men arranging the spars and hauling the canvas tight, when Syd laid his
+hand upon his companion's arm.
+
+"Don't speak or move," he whispered; "but look down to the right.
+There's some wild beast crawling up from the west end of the gap."
+
+Roylance gripped Syd's hand to indicate that he saw the creature, and
+they remained silent, watching it creeping nearer and nearer, till it
+reached the spot where the men had been making their meal, and there it
+seemed to pause for a few minutes before returning the way it came.
+
+It was so dark that its motions were more those of a shadow than of some
+living creature, and at last it seemed quite to die away among some
+loose rocks, just where the gap ended in a precipice.
+
+"Gone," said Sydney, drawing a long breath; "why, it was after the
+provisions."
+
+"Evidently.  I couldn't have thought that there were any live creatures
+here."
+
+"Looked like a great monkey."
+
+"Well, I thought so once--an ape, but it couldn't have been."
+
+"I say," whispered Syd; "was it a man, and they're going to play some
+prank on us from the ship to see if we are on the look-out?"
+
+"What's that?" said a voice behind them, and the two lads started to
+find that the lieutenant had come up to them unawares while they were
+talking earnestly.
+
+"We just saw something come up from that end of the gap, sir," said Syd;
+"it was like a monkey."
+
+"And Mr Belton here fancies it might be a spy from the _Sirius_ to see
+if we were on the watch," said Roylance.
+
+"Impossible! they would not play us such a trick.  Stop, it might be
+from the enemy--a boat landing men to see what we are about.  But
+where?" he said, excitedly.  "They couldn't have landed where we did,
+because there are two men on the watch, and I don't think there is any
+other place.  Let's see."
+
+Orders were given, the men seized their arms, and after a few admonitory
+words had been whispered, a search commenced, anything but an adequate
+one, for the task was one of risk, and the men had to proceed with the
+greatest caution, so as not to make a false step and go over the side,
+either into the sea or down one of the cracks and rifts into which the
+rock was cleft.
+
+This went on for a couple of hours, during which the men on the watch
+were certain that no one had landed, and at last the weary sailors felt
+ready to endorse the remark of Terry, which somehow became spread among
+them, that it was only a trick of the captain's son to set them on the
+alert.
+
+At last this came to the lieutenant's ears, and he called Syd and
+Roylance aside.
+
+"Was this some prank?" he said, sternly.
+
+"I would not be guilty of such a trick, sir," said Syd, warmly.  "It
+would have been unfair to the men, who were tired, and an insult to you,
+sir."
+
+"Of course it would, gentlemen," said the lieutenant.  "I beg your
+pardon."
+
+He went away, feeling rather uneasy, and set watches in two more places,
+with orders to fire at the slightest alarm.  Then in turn with Terry he
+visited the posts during the early part of the night, and in turn with
+Roylance during the latter part, the anxieties of the new command
+keeping him on the alert.
+
+As for Syd, he sat talking to Roylance for a time after going up to a
+point where on the one side they could see the lights of the ship as she
+lay to in the offing, and on the other, very dimly, the distant lamps of
+the town of Saint Jacques, or those at the head of its harbour.
+
+It was a strange experience up there in that cleft, under the shelter of
+the tent, with the distant murmur of breaking waves upon the rocks.  The
+low buzz of the men lulled for a time, then ceased, and Syd lay gazing
+at a great bright star which he could see peering through a slit between
+two outstretched sails.  Then that star passed out of sight and another
+moved in, followed by another, which grew dim, then dimmer, and finally
+disappeared, for the simple reason that Syd's eyes had closed and he was
+fast asleep.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.
+
+The bustle about him at daybreak woke Syd up to find that it was a
+glorious morning, but a sharp breeze had arisen; the sea was alive with
+breaking waves, and great rollers kept coming in to thunder upon the
+rock, sending up the broken water so far that it was evidently the first
+duty to get all the tackle and raise the remainder of the cases and
+barrels to the level of the cleft.
+
+Willing hands worked well at this, and at last everything was got up in
+safety on the first platform ready for running into the cleft, all save
+the two dismounted guns and their carriages, which were not likely to
+hurt, and the raising of these was deferred till after the breakfast,
+which one of the men who acted as cook had prepared.
+
+"There'll be no communication with the ship to-day, gentlemen," said the
+lieutenant, "unless the wind drops.  Why, she must be three miles
+farther away, and I can't see the _Orion_.  Bad job for you, Mr
+Belton."
+
+"Yes, sir," said Syd, quietly going on with his breakfast, and glancing
+at Terry, who scowled.
+
+"Well, I shall make you work.  That's the only plan in dealing with
+stowaways."
+
+"Oh, I'll work, sir," said Syd.  "When I've done break fast," he added
+to himself.
+
+"I tell you what," said the lieutenant; "we shall all be busy getting up
+and mounting those guns, so I shall set you to find your mare's-nest."
+
+"My what, sir?"
+
+"Mare's-nest, my lad.  You shall have two of our most active lads
+well-armed.  Take pistols yourself, and be careful with them.  Go and
+search every hole and cranny you can.  Find the thing you saw last
+night, and bring him or it to me.  I'm satisfied it was no one from the
+_Sirius_, and it may be some young black sent across and landed to find
+out what he can."
+
+As soon as the morning meal was ended Syd set about his task, meeting
+with a lowering look from Terry as he passed him.  Two smart young
+fellows were his companions, and the fact that he had a brace of loaded
+pistols stuck in his belt making him feel more important than ever he
+had felt before, till he came upon Strake, who was busy at the very part
+where he had seen the dark figure pass, and strengthening and adding to
+the tackle which was to be used to get up the guns.
+
+"Mornin', Mr Belton, sir," said the boatswain; and stepping aside so as
+to be out of hearing, he said in a low voice, "'Member what I says to
+you when I was cleaning the cap'in's pistols?"
+
+"Yes, I remember, Barney," said Syd, in the same low tone.
+
+"Then I says it again, sir, that's all."
+
+"I'll take care," said Syd; and he went on in advance of his men, but
+feeling as if the old boatswain had been cutting his comb.
+
+An isolated mass of rock some eight or ten acres in extent does not
+suggest that there would be much difficulty in the way of search; but
+before they had gone many yards Syd realised that he had a very awkward
+task, and that a rope would be a very acceptable article for helping one
+another.  This had to be fetched, and then once more they started, with
+Syd beginning to feel the responsibilities of his work, and the
+necessity for showing that he possessed energy and determination if he
+wished the men to obey.
+
+They had not gone much past their first halting-place when he stopped
+and hesitated, for there were cracks and holes large enough to conceal
+any one, in all directions.  As he stood looking round him, one of the
+men whispered to the other, and they both laughed.
+
+This seemed to stir Syd up.  He had inherited enough of his father's
+habits to feel nettled at any doubt of his ability, and he rather
+startled the men by saying sharply--
+
+"You, Rogers, go yonder to the left; Wills, you take the right.  Both of
+you keep as close to the sea as you can, and I'll take the centre of the
+rock.  Keep both of you to about my pace, and whenever I'm out of sight
+wait till you see me again, for I'll keep on the high ground as much as
+I can.  Now then, off and search every hole you see.  If you feel that
+you have run the enemy to earth, stop and fire as a signal."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir," they cried together.  "But what's the enemy like, sir?"
+
+"Find him and see," said Syd, sharply.  "Now off."
+
+The men separated at once, and the toilsome job began, with the sun
+beating down with tropical power, but the brisk wind reducing the ardour
+to bearing point.
+
+"Nice job this," thought the boy, as leaving the cleft centre of the
+rock a little to his left, he began his arduous clamber.  "Why, it's as
+bad as being an ant in a loaf-sugar basin.  Given myself the hardest
+job."
+
+But he persevered, searching diligently every rift, and amongst great
+blocks of stone over which he afterwards clambered, seeking the highest
+point so as to get a sight of one or the other of his two men, who were
+as active as he; but they all reached the edge of the rock at the point
+furthest from where they had landed without making any discovery.
+
+"Well," cried Syd, wiping the great drops of perspiration from his brow,
+"found anything?"
+
+"Lots of holes, sir," said one.
+
+"Cracks big enough to hold a ship's crew, sir," said the other.
+
+"Back again, then," cried Syd.  "There's either a monkey or a man in
+hiding somewhere about the place, and we've got to find him."
+
+"Ought to have said _it_" thought Syd, as he started back, shouting to
+the men to take lines a little nearer to him, while he too altered his
+course, making straight now for the cleft rock which rose like the
+citadel of the place.
+
+As he climbed along he found rift after rift, some so close that he
+could not get his hand down, others so wide and deep that he hesitated
+at the task of leaping over them, wondering what would be the result if
+he slipped and fell.  The fact grew upon him as he went on, that small
+as the place looked from the ship's deck, there was plenty of room for
+an enemy or fifty enemies to hide; but he became more certain that the
+natural pier was the only place where an enemy could land; the two men
+having confirmed the opinion formed when Lieutenant Dallas rowed round.
+
+"Strikes me," said Syd to himself, as he kept on peering down into chasm
+after chasm, "that if we want to catch our friend we shall have to set a
+trap for him."
+
+He climbed on and came to another eerie-looking place, more forbidding
+than any he had yet seen.  It was only a jagged crack of a couple of
+feet across, but it sloped outward directly, so that a vast hollow was
+formed, and when he shouted down it there was a deep reverberating sound
+which died away in a whisper.
+
+Boy nature is boy nature all the world over, and Syd could not resist
+the prompting which led him to drag a great piece of stone to the edge
+of the crack and push it in.
+
+He shrank back, startled at the effect of what he had done, for no
+sooner had the stone disappeared than it seemed to strike on the side
+and rebound, to strike again and then again and again, raising an
+echoing, booming roar, which ended as suddenly as it had begun.
+
+"I can't go down a place like that," he said, impatiently, as he shrank
+away; and then he stood staring, for the noise began again.  But not
+below ground, for it was as if the rock had come crashing out in front
+of him a hundred and fifty feet away, to be followed by a hurried
+shouting; and on climbing a block of stone to his right, he made out one
+of his men looking out for him, and waving his hand and shouting--"Back!
+Back!"
+
+Something was wrong.  Perhaps it was an attack; and he clambered higher
+so as to attract the attention of the other man, who also shouted and
+waved his hand before pointing at the citadel in front.
+
+"Something must be wrong," thought Syd, and he hurried panting on, to
+get in sight of the end of the chasm at last, but he could see nothing,
+only that the spars rigged up crane-fashion were not there.
+
+He was now on the highest part of the ridge, which ran down from the
+centre rock to the end; and as he clambered along he gazed seaward in
+search of the frigate, but it seemed to be gone.  The next moment,
+though, he caught sight of her top-gallant spars, and realised that she
+must be sailing right away.
+
+The heat was tremendous as Syd struggled on, finding that he had
+selected a far worse piece of the rock than had fallen to his men, and
+that his task would prove hopeless without the whole party turned out to
+help.
+
+All at once, after getting over a block of rugged limestone, which
+seemed full of coral, he found that he must let himself right down into
+a deep crack, or else clamber to right or left, where the difficulties
+were far greater, even if they were surmountable.
+
+He paused for a few moments to wipe his streaming face, and looked up
+overhead longingly at where the wind was whistling among the blocks of
+stone, and then lowered himself carefully down some thirty feet, stood
+listening to a curious sound which came whispering up from where the
+chasm he was in contracted to a mere crack, and after coming to the
+conclusion that it must be caused by there being some communication with
+the sea, he crossed the crack, and began to climb up the other side,
+where before he was half-way up one of his two men appeared peering over
+the edge, and looking down with a scared face.
+
+"Oh, there you are, sir," he cried; "we was getting frightened, and
+thought you'd tumbled."
+
+"No: give me your hand.  Thank you.  Phew! how hot it is down there!"
+cried Syd, as he climbed out and stood in the comparatively cool
+sea-breeze again.  "But why did you hail me?"
+
+"Don't know, sir.  There's some'at wrong up yonder."
+
+"Something wrong?  Not attacked, are they?"
+
+"Dunno, sir."
+
+"Where's your messmate?"
+
+"Here he comes, sir," said the man, waving his hand; and following their
+young leader, the two sailors made for the end of the great chasm where
+the guns were to be hoisted up, and Strake had been so busy with the
+tackle.
+
+For some minutes, as they climbed over or round the obstacles, there was
+nothing to be seen; but after creeping round a bold corner of rock, Syd
+suddenly found himself looking down on the whole party from the ship
+gathered in a knot round what seemed from the rope and tackle to be one
+of the guns.
+
+"Got it up, and it slipped and fell," thought Syd, as he lowered himself
+down and made his way to Roylance, whom he touched on the back.
+
+"What's the mat--"
+
+He did not finish, for as the midshipman turned Syd caught sight of the
+gun and ropes, with some handspikes which had evidently been used as
+levers.
+
+All that was at a glance.  Then he pushed his way forward to sink down
+on one knee beside the lieutenant, who was lying on his back, his face
+haggard and ghastly, his teeth set and his eyes closed, while the great
+drops of agony were gathering on his brow.
+
+He saw no more, for a piece of sail was thrown over his legs.
+
+"Mr Dallas," he cried, "what is it?  Are you ill?"  A low murmur ran
+round the little group, and at that moment the boatswain appeared with a
+pannikin of water from one of the tubs.
+
+As the lieutenant heard the lad's voice, he opened his eyes, looked
+round wildly, and then his gaze rested on Syd's anxious face.
+
+"Ah, Belton," he said in a hoarse whisper, "bad job.  The gear gave
+way--confounded gun--fell--crushed my legs.  Ah!"
+
+He uttered a groan full of anguish and fainted away.
+
+"It's horrible!" cried Roylance, as every one looked on helplessly.  "No
+surgeon; the gale increasing, and the ship out of sight.  Here, some one
+get some brandy or rum.  Ah, Belton!" he whispered, with the tears in
+his eyes, "such a good fellow, and I'm afraid it's all over."
+
+Syd heard this as if in a dream, as a deathly feeling of sickness came
+over him, and there floated before his eyes a scene in a grand old
+beech-wood near home, with a group of men standing round, helplessly as
+these were, the sun shining down like a silver shower through the
+branches, beneath which was a doctor's gig and a man in a smock frock
+holding the horse's head.  There on the moss, where scattered white
+chips shone out clearly, lay a fine, well-built young man close by the
+trunk of a tree which he had been helping to fell, but had not got out
+of the way soon enough, and the trunk had crushed his legs.
+
+The scene died away, and he was gazing down again at the unfortunate
+lieutenant instead of at the woodman, with the doctor on his knee and a
+boy by his side; and as the deathly sickness passed off he was brought
+more to himself by hearing the haughty domineering voice of Terry.
+
+"Stand away, some of you--all of you!" he cried.  "Mr Belton, do you
+hear me?  Go away, sir; you are keeping the air from the wounded man."
+
+Accustomed to obey, fresh ashore from the ship where the discipline was
+of the strictest, Syd drew back; but as he did so a hysterical sob burst
+from his throat, and he stepped forward again.
+
+"Confound you, sir! do you hear me?" cried Terry.  "I am in command now.
+Stand back, or I'll put you under arrest."
+
+As he advanced threateningly, Roylance touched Syd's sleeve.
+
+"Don't make a row now, for poor Dallas's sake.  Look!  He's dying."
+
+Syd looked at him quickly, and then turned back to face Terry, as he
+said in a dreamy way--"Is there no help?"
+
+"Will you stand back, sir?"
+
+"No doctor?  No one who understands--"
+
+"Here, bo'sun--Strake; seize Mr Belton, and take him away."
+
+No one stirred, but a murmur ran round the group as with a bitter cry of
+agony Syd stepped forward so quickly that Terry drew back, expecting a
+blow.  But the lad did not even see him, and he was in the act of
+sinking on his knees to take the lieutenant's hand, when his eyes rested
+on the piece of sail-cloth thrown tightly over the injured man's legs,
+where a ruddy patch of blood was slowly spreading.
+
+"He's bleeding to death," he cried excitedly; and a change seemed to
+come over the boy, as he bent down and quickly drew away the sail-cloth.
+
+"This is too much," cried Terry.  "You meddling young fool!"
+
+Syd flushed for a moment into anger.  "Roylance!  Strake!" he cried,
+"take that idiot away."  As he turned from the astounded middy, he threw
+off his jacket, gave one glance at Dallas, whose eyes were fixed upon
+him in a wild despairing way; and then knife in hand he was down upon
+his knees.
+
+"Here, Barney," he said, in cool firm tones, as recollections of what he
+had seen in the wood at home played once more through his brain; "down
+on your knees there by his head, and bathe his face with the cold water.
+Keep back on the windward side," he continued.  "Mr Roylance, let four
+men hold a sail over us to keep off the sun."
+
+His orders were so full of the force which makes men obey, that they
+were acted upon at once; and all the time Syd was on his knees busy.
+
+Without a moment's hesitation he had inserted his sharp knife at the
+left knee-band, and slit up the garment right to the groin, laying bare
+a ghastly wound that seemed to go right to the bone, and from which the
+blood came in one spot with a regular throb, throb, which Syd knew meant
+death before long if it was not stopped.
+
+"Water, here!" he shouted.
+
+"I must protest against this boy's meddling," cried Terry.  "Mr Belton,
+let him die in peace."
+
+"Mr Roylance--" came in faint tones from the white lips of the wounded
+man, "take--Mr Terry--"
+
+He fainted as he spoke, but it was enough.  At a word from the
+midshipman two of the sailors secured Terry by the wrists, and he was
+forced away, while two other men ran for a bucket of water.
+
+"Leave his head now, Barney," cried Syd, in a quick, decided voice.
+"Your neckerchief, man.  Quick, roll it up."
+
+This was handed to the young operator, who passed it under Dallas's limb
+far up, tied it round in a knot, called for a jack-knife, and then
+shouted to the willing man who handed it to shut it up.  This done he
+passed the knife inside the neckerchief, pressed it down on the inner
+part of the thigh, and then took his sheathed dirk from his belt.
+
+This he also passed under the neckerchief, and began to twist round a
+few turns, drawing the bandage tightly down on the knife-handle, which,
+as he still twisted, was forced firmly home, pressing the artery against
+the bone.
+
+This done, and the dirk secured so that it could not twist back, Syd
+turned to the gaping wound, from which the blood still welled, but
+sluggishly.  The water was ready, and scooping some on to the wound, it
+was more plainly revealed as a great clean-cut gash, extending many
+inches.
+
+Syd's fingers were soon busily employed searching for and finding the
+ruptured artery, and in spite of the horrible nature of the gash, he
+uttered a sigh of satisfaction as he discovered it and pressed it
+between his finger and thumb.
+
+"Now one of you--no, you, Strake," he cried, "off with my handkerchief,
+and tear it across so as to get me a couple of strips, which roll up
+fine as twine."
+
+This was done, but the pieces were rejected as too thick.
+
+Two more were prepared and laid ready.
+
+"Now," he said, "a little more water here, over my hands."
+
+He was obeyed, and with deft fingers, taught by Doctor Liss, he rapidly
+tied the artery, and the main flow of blood was stopped amid a low
+murmur of satisfaction, the patient, who had revived, lying perfectly
+motionless with his eyes fixed upon his surgeon.
+
+And now for a few moments the lad paused, with his brow wrinkled up,
+thinking.
+
+He wanted silk and a large needle, and the latter was unattainable.
+
+"Has any one a pin or two?" he said.
+
+There was an eager search, and the result was that five were found, of
+which the boatswain produced three; and then stared as he saw his young
+officer unbutton and strip off his white linen shirt, to kneel there
+half-naked beneath the rough awning the men held over them, and rapidly
+slit and tear it up into bandages.
+
+By this time Roylance was back, and taking his cue from his friend, he
+did not hesitate to follow his example.
+
+"Now quick, Strake," said Syd; "lay me up a few more strips of silk as
+fine as you can."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir!" and the boatswain's fingers were soon busy, while by
+means of a couple of broad bandages Syd drew the edges of the wound
+together, and gave the ends of the bands to two men to hold, while first
+in one place he cleverly thrust a pin through the skin of one side of
+the wound and out at the other, then holding the lips of the gash
+together he quickly twisted a fine thread of silk over the pin-head on
+one side, over the point on the other, and so on, to and fro, till the
+wound was closed there.
+
+Over this a temporary bandage was secured, and he proceeded to draw the
+wound edges together in another place in the same way till this was also
+fast and temporarily bandaged over.  The other three pins were similarly
+utilised, and then broad fresh bandages of linen were wrapped firmly
+round, the temporary ones being removed by degrees, and again used in a
+better manner, till the horrible wound was properly secured; then as Syd
+ceased his efforts, as if moved by one spirit, a hearty English cheer
+burst from every one present; and the men whose hands were not occupied
+threw their hats in the air.
+
+"Hush! pray!" cried Syd, looking up angrily, as, taking his knife once
+more, he cut through the knee-band of the other leg, slit it up in turn,
+and then softly drew down the stocking.
+
+Here he paused, and looked anxiously up at his patient, whose pallor was
+terrible.
+
+"Keep on moistening his lips with a little spirit-and-water, Roylance,"
+he whispered, "or he will not be able to bear the pain."
+
+He was obeyed without a word, and after waiting a few moments the lad,
+clumsily enough perhaps, but with a show of some of the skill that he
+had seen displayed by Doctor Liss when out with him upon his rounds,
+began to make his examination.
+
+The leg was terribly scraped and bruised, but this was not the trouble.
+Syd's eyes were sufficiently educated to detect what was wrong, and a
+few delicate touches satisfied him.
+
+"Got off a bit there, hasn't he, Master Syd?" whispered the boatswain.
+
+"Got off, Barney?  No," said the lad, sadly.  "His thigh-bone is broken,
+and his leg too, just above the ankle."
+
+"Lor' ha' mussy!" muttered the boatswain, "who'd ha' thought o' that!"
+
+Syd was silent, for he was face to face with another surgical problem.
+He wanted splints, bandages, and brown paper, and he had none of these.
+What was to be done?
+
+"Two of you take your knives," he said, "and split up the lid of one of
+those cases.  I want half a dozen strong thin laths of different
+widths."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir!" came back; and there was the rending sound of wood heard.
+
+"Now for bandages, Barney.  Ah, I see.  But I want some linen first to
+go next the skin."
+
+"Oh, you can have all the men's, sir, and welcome, I know."
+
+"Yes, poor fellows.  But I want some long narrow ones.  You must cut
+them from one of the sails."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir!"
+
+All worked hard at these preparations, while Syd had the longest lid of
+any case they had brought to him, and this, after being covered with a
+piece of sail-cloth, was carefully slipped under the broken limb.  Then
+there was a certain amount of trimming and measuring required over the
+splints before the young surgeon was satisfied, a sensation of shrinking
+keeping him from beginning what was another crucial task.  Fortunately
+the fractures were simple, and he had no very great difficulty in
+bringing the broken bones into their proper positions, after which he
+bandaged and applied the splints, making all fast, a low moan from time
+to time being all that escaped from the sufferer.
+
+At last.  The final bandage was secured, and a horrible weight was
+removed from Syd's breast, for he knew that he had set the bones rightly
+even if his surgery was rough, and so far his patient had not sunk under
+the operation.
+
+"Shall we carry him up yonder now, sir?" said the boatswain, touching
+his forelock.
+
+"Move him? no," cried Syd.  "Rig up something over his head.  He must
+not be touched."  Then, turning to Dallas, he went down on one knee and
+took his hand.  "Are you in much pain?" he said.
+
+The poor fellow was conscious, and he looked full in the speaker's eyes;
+his lips moved, but no sound came, and the horrible feeling of sickness
+which had first troubled Syd came back, increasing so fast that the lad
+rose quickly and staggered a few yards.
+
+"Give me something--water--quick!" he muttered; and all was blank.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.
+
+When Syd opened his eyes he was lying down, with Roylance kneeling by
+his side, and a curious feeling of wonderment came over him as to what
+all this meant.
+
+"What's the matter?" he said, sharply.
+
+"You fainted.  Are you better now?"
+
+"Some people do faint at the sight of a drop of blood," said a familiar
+voice, followed by a sneering laugh.
+
+It was medicine to Syd, and he felt better directly, and sat up.
+
+"Give me my jacket and things," he said; and paying no heed to Terry,
+who was standing close by the two men who had been placed over him,
+busily helping with the rough tent they were fitting over the
+lieutenant, he walked to his patient, to find him lying so passive that
+he shuddered, and wondered whether the poor fellow was dead.
+
+"Did I do wrong?"  Syd asked himself.  "Would he have got better if I
+had left him alone?"
+
+He felt his ignorance terribly as he asked himself these questions; but
+the answer was ready for utterance as Roylance said, looking white as he
+spoke--
+
+"Oh, Belt, old fellow, what a horrible job to have to do!"  And then,
+"Would he have got right without?"
+
+"No.  If he had gone on bleeding from that artery he would by now have
+been a dead man."
+
+"But how did you learn all that?  The lads can do nothing else but talk
+about it."
+
+"Hush! come away," said Syd.  "Let him sleep, and"--he shuddered--"let
+one of the men bring me a bucket of water."
+
+It was well on in the middle of the day, and there was no sign of the
+ship.  The men had greatly improved the shelter up in the chasm; but
+though the carriages were up one at each end near the positions they
+were to occupy, the two guns which should by this time have been mounted
+lay on the rock, the first one having brought down the tackle, and
+bounded from a sloping stone on to the unfortunate lieutenant, pinning
+him to the ground before he could get out of the way.
+
+After seeing that his patient was carefully watched by one of the men
+who had been his companion that morning, Syd was trying to drive away
+the miserable feeling of faintness and exhaustion from which he suffered
+by partaking of a little refreshment, when, just as he was thinking of
+his father's orders, and that those guns ought to be mounted, the
+boatswain came up, touched his hat to him and Roylance, and was about to
+speak, when Terry strode up, and ignoring his brother midshipmen, said
+sharply--
+
+"Look here, bo'sun; that was all nonsense this morning.  Mr Dallas is
+wounded, and incapable.  I am senior officer, and the captain's orders
+must be carried out.  Call the men together, and I'll have those guns up
+at once."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir!" cried Strake; his whistle sounded shrilly against the
+sides of the rock, and the men came running up.
+
+"All hands to hoist up the guns," cried Terry.  "Now, bo'sun, have that
+tackle fixed better this time."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir.  Now, my lads, be smart, and we'll have that gun up in a
+jiffy."
+
+The men were all gathered together in a knot, but no one stirred; and
+they began muttering to themselves.
+
+"Now, my lads; what is it?" cried the boatswain.  "You don't mind a bit
+o' sunshine, do you?  Come, bear a hand."
+
+Not a man stirred, and Syd and Roylance exchanged looks.
+
+"What is the meaning of this?" cried Terry, in a bullying tone.  "Do you
+hear, men?  I want these guns up directly."
+
+Still no one stirred, and Terry grew pale.  His one hand played about
+his sword, and his other hand sought a pistol.
+
+"Bo'sun!" he cried, "what is the meaning of this insubordination?"
+
+Strake shook his head.
+
+"D'ye hear, my lads?  Mr Terry wants to know the meaning of this
+ins'bordination."
+
+Not a man spoke.
+
+"Look here," cried Terry, drawing his dirk, "I am not going to be
+trifled with.  I order you to help hoisting up those guns.  What do you
+mean?  Are you afraid of another accident?"
+
+"No," cried the men with one consent, in quite a shout.
+
+"Then look here, my lads," cried Terry, drawing a pistol, "I'll stand no
+nonsense.  Will you obey?"
+
+"Look here, Terry," said Roylance, sharply, "there is no occasion for
+violence.  The men think they have some grievance; ask them what it is."
+
+"Mind your own business, sir," cried Terry, sharply; but as Roylance
+drew back with a deprecating gesture, he spoke to the boatswain.
+
+"Ask the mutinous scoundrels what they mean," he said.
+
+The boatswain went up to the knot of men.
+
+"Now then, you swabs," he growled; "what's these here games?"
+
+"We arn't going to have him playing at skipper over us," said one of
+them.  "The luff put him under arrest for interferin'."
+
+"Ay, ay," growled the others; "we don't want he."
+
+"S'pose you know it's hanging at the yard-arm for mutiny, my lads?" said
+the boatswain, gruffly.
+
+"Mutiny?  Who want's to mutiny?" said another.  "We're ready enough to
+work, arn't we, messmates?"
+
+"Ay, ay," came in chorus.
+
+"Then lay hold o' the rope, and let's have them guns up yonder."
+
+"Ay, to be sure; we'll get the guns up," said another man; "but Mr
+Terry's under 'rest."
+
+"Then you won't haul?" said the boatswain.
+
+"Not one on us.  He arn't an officer till he's been afore the skipper."
+
+"Well, what am I to tell him?"
+
+"What yer like," said one of the first speakers.
+
+Strake gave his quid a turn, rubbed his ear, and walked back.
+
+"Won't haul, sir," he said, laconically.
+
+"What!  Then it's mutiny.  Mr Roylance, Mr Belton, draw your swords.
+Bo'sun, run and get a cutlass and pistols."
+
+"I don't want no cutlass to them, sir; I've got my fists," growled the
+boatswain.
+
+"What, are you in a state of mutiny too?" cried Terry.
+
+"Not as I knows on, sir?"
+
+"Then arrest the ringleader."
+
+"Which is him, sir?"
+
+"That man," cried Terry, pointing with his dirk to Rogers, one of the
+smart young fellows who had been Syd's companion in the morning.  "Bring
+him here.  Oh, if I had a file of marines!"
+
+"Which you arn't got," muttered Strake, as he strode back to where the
+men were together.
+
+"Here you, Ike Rogers," he said; "I arrests you for mutiny."
+
+"No, no," growled the men together.
+
+"All right, messmates," said Rogers, laughing.  "Can't put us in irons,
+for there arn't none."
+
+"Come on," said Strake, clapping him on the shoulder.  "Mr Terry wants
+you."
+
+"What for?" said Rogers, eyeing the middy's dirk; "to pick my teeth?"
+
+In the midst of a burst of laughter the boatswain marched the man up to
+where Terry was, strutting and fuming about.
+
+"Now, you scoundrel," he said; "what does this mean?"
+
+"Beg pardon, sir; that's what we want to know."
+
+"Then I'll tell you, sir; it's rank mutiny."
+
+"There now, bo'sun; that's just what we thought," said Rogers, turning
+to him.  "I know'd it was, and that's why we wouldn't come."
+
+"You scoundrel!  You're playing with me," cried Terry.
+
+"Nay, sir; not me.  Wouldn't ketch me play with a orficer with a big
+sword in his hand."
+
+"Then tell me what you mean.  You said it was mutiny, and so you would
+not come."
+
+"That's it, sir.  Sworn to sarve the King; and when a young orficer,
+which is you, sir, breaks out of arrest, and wants to lead a lot of poor
+chaps wrong, 'tarn't me as 'll risk my neck."
+
+Terry's jaw dropped at this unexpected reply, and Roylance burst into a
+roar of laughter, in which he was joined by Syd, while Strake stood with
+his face puckered up like a year-old pippin, and rubbed his starboard
+ear.
+
+"Mr Roylance!" cried Terry at last, "how is discipline to be preserved
+while you encourage the men in this tomfoolery?  I shall report it to
+the captain, sir."
+
+"Look here, Mr Terry," said Roylance, firmly; "the man is, in his way,
+quite right."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir," cried the others, who had closed in, following their
+messmate.
+
+"Quite right?"
+
+"Yes; Mr Dallas put you under arrest."
+
+"Mr Dallas is ill--dying, and unable to give orders, sir.  I am your
+senior."
+
+"Oh, you're welcome to take command for me," cried Roylance.  "I don't
+want the responsibility."
+
+"Once more, my lads, I warn you of the consequences.  Will you go to
+your work?"
+
+There was no reply, and the men drew back, while Terry stood looking
+along their faces with his pistol raised.
+
+"Mind that there don't go off, please, sir," said Rogers, dryly.  "You
+might hit me."
+
+There was a roar of laughter at this, and Terry stamped with rage.
+
+"Shall I go and try and bring 'em to their senses, sir?" said the
+boatswain.
+
+"No--yes," cried Terry.
+
+"Which on 'em, sir?" said the boatswain, dryly.
+
+"Yes.  Go and see, and tell them I'll shoot down the first man who
+disobeys."
+
+"Oh, Lor'!" groaned Rogers, with mock horror, and there was another
+laugh, while Syd turned away unable to keep his countenance, and went to
+where the lieutenant lay asleep.
+
+"Look here, my lads," growled the boatswain; "it's no use kicking agen
+it.  Come on; lay to at the ropes, and let's get the work done."
+
+"We arn't going to be bully-ragged by a thing like that," said the
+oldest man present.  "If he was a chap with anything in him, we would.
+But he's a bully, that's what he is.  Let Mr Roylance take command."
+
+"Says as Mr Roylance is to take command, sir," shouted Strake.
+
+"No," said Roylance, "I will not undertake the responsibility."
+
+"Look ye here, messmates," cried Rogers, as Syd hung back from the
+little tent, "Capen Belton's our skipper."
+
+"Ay, ay," shouted the men.
+
+"And he arn't here, and the luff's in orspittle."
+
+"Well, we know that, Iky," said one of the men.
+
+"Ay, lad; but here comes the son.  I says let young Captain Belton take
+command."
+
+"Ay, ay!" thundered the men, and they gave three cheers.
+
+"There you are, sir," said the boatswain.  "Men says you're to take
+command."
+
+"I?" cried Syd; "nonsense.  There's Mr Roylance."
+
+"No, no," cried the men; and Terry stood grinding his teeth, and looking
+threateningly at Syd.
+
+"Look here, my lads," cried Syd; "the captain wants those guns mounted,
+and this place held."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir; we'll do it and hold it again anybody," cried Rogers.
+
+"Very well put, Belton; very well," cried Terry.
+
+"Your officer is helpless.  Will you obey Mr Terry, and do your duty
+like men?"
+
+"No!" came with a roar.
+
+"Then let Mr Roy lance take command.  Come, be men."
+
+"We arn't got nothing agen Mr Roylance," shouted a voice; "but we want
+you."
+
+"Go on, Belton; take command.  The ship will be back perhaps to-night,
+and we must have those guns up," said Roylance.
+
+"Will you back me up?"
+
+"Of course," cried Roylance, heartily.
+
+"All right, then, my lads," cried Syd.  "Now then, with a will."
+
+"Ay, ay.  Hooray!" shouted the men.
+
+"Man signalling from the tent, sir," said Roylance.
+
+"Oh!" ejaculated Syd, as a cold chill ran through him, and he shrank
+from learning what it meant.  "Go and see, Roy."
+
+Roylance was already half-way there, and he came back directly.
+
+"Mr Dallas says you are to take command, Mr Belton," he cried, loud
+enough for the men to hear; "and he begs that at any cost you will get
+the guns in position before dark."
+
+"Ay, ay," yelled the men, and then there was dead silence.
+
+"I am only one against you all, Mr Belton," said Terry, in a low,
+snarling tone, "and the moment the _Sirius_ comes back, I go to the
+captain and tell him the whole truth."
+
+"Do," said Syd, quietly; "only tell him all."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.
+
+"Barney, keep near me, and tell me what to do," whispered Syd; "I feel
+such a fool."
+
+"You dear lad," said the old man, softly.  "Why, I've been that proud on
+you to-day as never was, and been wishing the capen was here."
+
+"Nonsense!  Now about getting up these guns.  I can't tell the men what
+to do."
+
+"Yah! you're right enough.  All you've got to do is to look on and say,
+`Now, my lads, with a will!' and, `Come, bo'sun, don't play with it!'
+And, `Altogether, my lads!' and you'll see them guns mounted in no time.
+Steady; here's Mr Roylance coming."
+
+"But it seems to be only playing at captain, and I don't--"
+
+"Ay, ay, sir," roared the boatswain.  "You're right.  Parbuckle it is.
+Be smart, my lads, and get down a cask.  One o' them as the stores was
+in."
+
+There was a hearty assent, as Syd said to himself, "What does he mean by
+`parbuckle'?"
+
+"Cast off these here ropes, sir," shouted Strake again.  "Ay, ay, sir.
+Now, my lads, off with them."
+
+The men trotted here and there with the greatest of alacrity, and by the
+time the ropes were unfastened from the first gun, a cask was rolled to
+the end of the gap, lowered down, and placed by the end of the gun.
+
+The boatswain came to Syd's side again.
+
+"Get the gun inside, and then pack her round with tarpaulin and
+doubled-up sails, wouldn't you, sir?" he said.
+
+"Yes, if it's best," replied Syd; and the boatswain went off again to
+the men.
+
+"Talk about a lad!" he said.  "My! he is the right sort.  Now then, in
+with that handspike, boys."
+
+The men placed one end of the tough ash staff into the muzzle of the
+gun, then laid hold and lifted it high enough for a block to be placed
+under it.  Then the men depressed the muzzle, the leverage given by the
+handspike enabling them to raise the breech; and the cask was run over
+it right up over the trunnions, a little more hoisting and heaving
+getting the gun right in, when it was easily packed round with
+doubled-up sails, and wedged tight in the centre.
+
+After this the task was comparatively easy.  Four ropes were made fast
+to a mass of rock in the gap, brought down and passed under the cask,
+taken back over the top, and from thence into the gap, where, with Syd
+now comprehending, and wonderfully interested in the task, giving
+orders, all the strength of the detachment was brought to bear, and the
+cask was hauled up the slope without a mishap.
+
+A burst of cheers greeted this, and it was then rolled on over the rough
+ground with handspikes, till it was at the upper end of the gap by its
+carriage, which was ready on a rough platform.
+
+Then the unpacking began, Syd needing no instructions now the cask and
+packing were rolled back, and the second gun was brought up with greater
+ease than the first.
+
+The rigging up of a kind of tripod, and hoisting each gun up into its
+place on the carriage, was a mere matter of every-day detail, and before
+dark Syd had the satisfaction of seeing his father's wishes carried out,
+and each piece ready with its pile of shot and ammunition stowed under
+the shelter of a niche in the rock which made an admirable magazine.
+
+He had been alone part of the time, but admirably seconded by Strake,
+who kept up his bit of acting at first with a show of reality that was
+admirable, till he saw that his young master had grasped the requisite
+knowledge, and in his excitement began to order and dictate till the
+work was done; for Terry had gone off with a glass to sweep the horizon
+in search of the frigate, getting under shelter of a great piece of
+stone, the wind blowing almost a gale.
+
+But he searched in vain.  For some reason the _Sirius_ had sailed right
+away; and he crept down at last with the unsatisfactory feeling that he
+had been superseded, and that it would be some time before the frigate
+returned.
+
+But long before he descended, Roylance--who had set the sailor free, and
+was watching in his place by the lieutenant's side--had communicated
+with Sydney, and asked him to come and look at his patient.
+
+It was a sad sight.  The poor fellow lay motionless and breathing feebly
+and hurriedly, for there was a suggestion of the fever that was pretty
+sure to come; and a feeling of helplessness came over Syd as he bent
+over his patient, and wondered what he could do more to save his life.
+
+After the guns had been dragged up, a portion of the men were at liberty
+to help in other ways, and a good deal more had been done to the shelter
+up in the gap.
+
+It was quite time, for with the coming night it was evident there would
+be a storm.  And it became a matter of certainty that if the wind did
+rise, the rough tent set up with a sail thrown over a spar, for the
+lieutenant's use, would be exposed to the higher waves, and must
+inevitably be saturated by the spray.
+
+It was no use to sigh, the task had at all risks to be done, and the
+question arose how the wounded man was to be transported to the gap.
+
+"Can't we do something to keep him here?" suggested Syd; "build a rough
+wall of rock to shelter him."
+
+The answer came at once in the shape of a large roller, which seemed to
+glide in, and after deluging the little pier broke with a heavy,
+thunderous noise, and sent a tremendous shower of broken water over the
+canvas of the rough tent, nearly driving it flat, and proving that the
+position where Mr Dallas lay would not be tenable much longer.
+
+"I think I can manage it, sir," said the boatswain, touching his hat,
+"if I may try."
+
+"What will you do?"
+
+"This here, sir."
+
+There was no time to waste; and with all the handiness of a sailor the
+old man set to work, took down the sail, and folded it till it was in
+the form of an oblong, some eight feet by four.
+
+"Now two on you," he said, "draw that under the lufftenant while we
+eases him up.  Not that way, you swabs: folded edge first."
+
+The doubled sail was reversed, and as Mr Dallas was gently lifted the
+canvas was drawn under him; Syd feeling a chill run through him as the
+poor fellow lay perfectly inert, not so much as giving vent to a moan.
+
+"Now, one at each corner," said the boatswain.  "Mind and not shift that
+there board under his leg.  Steady--altogether."
+
+The men lifted, and the wounded man was borne close up to the slope
+below the gap, where the spars and tackle were erected at the edge some
+fifteen feet above their heads.
+
+It was none too soon; the men were in the act of lowering their burden
+gently down, when, with a noise like thunder, another wave broke, and it
+was only by making a rush through the foam that the spars, canvas, and
+rope lying by the rough tent were saved by the men from being carried
+away.
+
+"Just in time, Roy," said Sydney; "but how are we to get him up there,
+bo'sun?"
+
+"Oh, that's easy enough, sir; I can work that."
+
+Taking a small boat-mast, the boatswain rapidly lashed the ends of the
+temporary hammock fast to the spar, and then ropes were carried and
+secured to the tackle-block in a way that, when all was ready, there was
+no difficulty in hauling the spar horizontally up, with the temporary
+hammock and its burden swinging from the spar like a palanquin.
+
+All this was cleverly managed, and willing hands seized one end of the
+spar as soon as it was up to the end of the gap, drew it in till the
+other end could be reached and shouldered, and then the hammock was
+borne right up to where the shelter had been previously prepared.
+
+As soon as the patient had been carefully laid down, Sydney knelt beside
+him to place his light hand upon his heart, trembling the while in
+anticipation of his worst dread being fulfilled, and a cold chill came
+over him again, as it seemed to him that there was no movement.
+
+He shifted his hand to the pulse, and still there seemed to be no sign,
+till he lifted the fingers up a little and drew a catching breath, for
+there was certainly a feeble throbbing sensible.
+
+"Can't s'pect much, sir," whispered the boatswain.  "Man's awful weak
+when he's like that.  Bimeby, though, he'll turn hot and fev'rish; they
+generally does."
+
+"But he is alive," said Syd, softly; and he proceeded to examine his
+bandages, thankful to find that the bleeding had stopped, and the
+splints, thanks to the board beneath the sufferer's leg, unshifted.
+
+Breathing a little more freely now, and enforcing silence among the men,
+Sydney left the temporary tent, and took a look round with Roylance,
+previous to making dispositions for the night.
+
+Everything was rather chaotic, but the guns were in position, the men's
+arms arranged, and the tackle drawn up, so that they were all secure in
+a natural fort, whose approaches could easily be defended, there being
+only one place where an enemy was likely to approach.  Here a watch was
+set, and orders given for a meal to be prepared, in anticipation of
+which a tot of rum was served round to the tired men, and a bit of
+tobacco handed to each by Sydney's orders.
+
+The effect was miraculous.  Five minutes before the men looked worn-out
+and dull in the gathering gloom; now there was a burst of subdued
+laughter and talk from the group gathered round the fire which the cook
+had prepared, the light shining on the face of Terry, who stood leaning
+against a piece of the perpendicular rock, his arms folded, and a heavy
+scowl upon his brow.
+
+"I don't like that, Roy," said Syd, in a low tone; "it's miserable work
+being bad friends."
+
+"Yes; I hate it."
+
+"I've a good mind to go and ask him to shake hands."
+
+"If you do he'll think you are afraid of him."
+
+"He wouldn't be so stupid, would he?"
+
+"Yes: make him come to you."
+
+"I suppose that would be best," said Syd, with a sigh.  "Let's go up
+here and look out for the lights of the frigate.  What are you laughing
+at?"
+
+"You.  Come; you're a capital doctor, but not much of a sailor yet."
+
+"Oh, I'm no doctor.  I couldn't have done that, only I used to go along
+with a friend of my father on his rounds, and saw what he did."
+
+"Well, you've saved poor Mr Dallas's life."
+
+"Think so, Roy?  Ah, if I could only feel sure!  But why," added Syd,
+after a pause, "did you say I was no sailor?"
+
+"To talk about seeing the frigate's lights.  She couldn't have beat up
+near here in such a gale as this.  Whew! it does blow."
+
+They had been walking carefully along the gap towards the point where
+the further gun was mounted, and gradually clambered up higher till they
+were beyond the shelter of the side of the southern cleft, when Roylance
+had just time to clap his hand to his head and save his hat, which was
+starting on a voyage into the black night.
+
+The next minute Syd was beside him, holding on to the rocky edge of the
+cleft, high up above the guns, catching the full force of the wind.
+Down below they were in complete shelter.  Here the gale had such power
+that it was impossible to stand securely.  The wind shrieked about their
+ears, and seemed to come at them in huge waves, each throwing them back
+against the rock, and now and then making what felt like a snatch to
+tear them from where they stood, and hurl them down the rocks, or blow
+them away to sea.
+
+"I say," cried Roylance, panting to get his breath, and holding his lips
+close to his companion's ear, "they must be having it pretty rough on
+board to-night."
+
+"Think there's any danger?" shouted Syd.
+
+"Not if they keep well out to sea.  Eh?  What?"
+
+"I didn't speak," roared Syd; "it was the wind howling."
+
+"Hadn't we better get down?  I feel as if I was going to be blown right
+off."
+
+"Wait a bit.  I say, I think I'll have a man posted here by this gun."
+
+"What, now?"
+
+"Yes, at once."
+
+"Nonsense, man; there's no one on the rock but ourselves, and no enemy
+could come near us in this gale."
+
+"No," shouted Syd; "suppose not.  But--"
+
+He had to cease speaking and hold on, for the wind rushed at them now
+with redoubled violence, and for a minute neither thought of anything
+but the danger.
+
+"It does blow," panted Syd at last, as the wind lulled a little.  "I was
+going to say--do you feel sure there is no one else on the rock?"
+
+"Yes, of course."
+
+"I don't," said Syd, decisively; "I know I saw something, or some bird."
+
+"A goat left on the rock."
+
+"No; it could not have been a goat; it must--"
+
+Whoo!  The wind rushed at them again, and once more they held on,
+longing to get down below, but fascinated by the awful din.  Below them
+the darkness seemed profound; only now and then they saw a gleam, as if
+one of the waves--which broke with a roar like thunder on the rock, and
+sent a fine cloud of spray floating about their faces--contained some
+kind of light living creatures, or it was only a reflection on the
+smooth curve, before it broke, of the stars overhead.  For there all was
+clear enough, save that the stars looked blurred, though bright, and
+were quivering and vibrating beyond the rushing wind.
+
+"Oh!" ejaculated Syd.  "Hear that?"
+
+"Hear it!" was the reply; "I could feel it.  Shan't have the whole rock
+swept away, shall we?"
+
+There was a lull in the wind just then, but the two lads had clung
+there, completely awe-stricken, as a huge hill of water had heaved up,
+and fallen on the outer buttresses of the rock, which quivered under the
+shock.  Then there was a roar of many waters, a wild rushing and booming
+sound, and the wind blew harder.
+
+They looked out into the awful blackness, which seemed transparent,
+glanced up at the quivering stars, once more paused to listen again to
+the tremendous impact of the waves that came regularly rolling in, and
+then, taking advantage of a lull, they descended to where the gun had
+been mounted.
+
+The change was wonderful.  They had not descended fifty feet, but it was
+into complete shelter.  The wind was rushing over their heads, and the
+waves were thundering in far below, but the noise sounded dull and
+distant, and they sat down, breathing freely, and rubbing their
+spray-wet faces.
+
+"No," said Syd, quietly; "no fear."
+
+"What of?"
+
+"The rock being swept away; it would have gone before now."
+
+"Well, I'm beginning to think we're safer here than on board," said
+Roylance.
+
+"Don't say that," cried Syd, excitedly.  "You don't think there's any
+danger to the frigate, do you?"
+
+"No," said Roylance, sharply.  "Come on down now, and let's get
+something to eat."
+
+They walked steadily back towards where the fire was glowing and burning
+briskly in the sheltered depth of the chasm, casting curious lights and
+reflections on the rocks to right and left, and showing plainly the
+figure of the man on the watch beside the farther gun, and the spars
+rigged up at his side.
+
+"Looks as if he were going to be hung," said Roylance, quietly.
+
+"Yes, the spars have an ugly look with that rope hanging down.  I almost
+wish I had put a man up by the other gun."
+
+"What for?  I tell you we can go to sleep in peace to-night."
+
+"With poor Mr Dallas like that?"
+
+"Forgotten him for the moment.  No; of course one of us will take the
+watch, unless Terry comes down and turns civil.  There, hi! look at
+that! look at that."
+
+_Bang_!--The report of the sentry's pistol as Syd and Roylance had
+started trotting down towards the gun at the lower end.
+
+In an instant the men about the fire had leaped up, and stood ready for
+any action by their arms.
+
+"Did you see it, my man?" panted Syd.
+
+"Ay, ay, sir; came running along like a big tiger from up yonder by the
+fire, and I fired at it, and then it was gone."
+
+"Did you see which way it went?"
+
+"No, sir, 'cause o' the smoke."
+
+"It seemed to me to disappear among these rocks," said Roylance.
+
+"No; I saw it come out from behind there, and then it leaped off into
+the darkness just below the gun.  Here, spread out, my lads; it didn't
+go that way.  Keep a smart look-out, and go steady down to the edge.  It
+couldn't have jumped off, and must be here."
+
+A thorough search took place, and this was easy enough, for the space
+within the gap or chasm was comparatively small.  But there was no
+result, and at last a few burning brands were thrown down from the edge
+just below the gun to light up the rocks there, in the hope that some
+animal might be lying killed by its fall.
+
+There was nothing visible, and at last, after making their arrangements
+for the night, Roylance and Sydney sat together, talking in low tones
+about the mysterious appearance seen now twice.
+
+"Here, I'll keep watch," said Roy, after they had taken another look at
+the injured man.
+
+"No, I'll take the first half," said Syd, quietly.
+
+"Well, you're in command," said Roylance; "but I don't feel comfortable
+about going to sleep with a wild beast dancing minuets all over one in
+the night."
+
+"I shall be watching," said Syd.
+
+"Oh, very well: I'll lie down.  Poor Terry's got the best of it; he has
+been fast asleep for an hour."
+
+Roylance lay down under the sail, covering himself with his boat-cloak,
+and was asleep directly; while Sydney, after another glance at Dallas,
+who seemed to be sleeping quietly, placed his pistols in his belt, and
+went out to visit the watch.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT.
+
+As Syd stood outside the effect was very curious.  The wind was blowing
+with hurricane violence, and in a dull distant way the sea was breaking
+wave after wave against the rocks, but where he stood there was hardly a
+breath of air.  Then with the novelty of his sensations increasing, and
+feeling that all this seemed to him like a dream from which he would
+awake in the morning, he walked to where the watch was posted, and
+started a little on seeing two figures in the darkness instead of one.
+
+"On'y me, Mr Belton, sir," came in the boatswain's gruff growl.
+"Rogers here felt it a bit lonesome like with no company but a long gun.
+And look ye here, mate," he whispered to the man, "don't you never
+forget to reload arter you've fired your pistol."
+
+"Seen or heard anything more?" said Syd, making an effort to keep up his
+new dignity.
+
+"No, sir.  Fancied I did once, but it warn't nothing."
+
+"Blowing very hard, bo'sun."
+
+"Well, sir, tidy, tidy; most a capful o' wind.  Thought I'd come and
+stay with him, sir," he whispered, as they walked aside to gaze out to
+sea; "bit scared like arter seeing that there thing again."
+
+"There was something, Barney, I'm sure."
+
+"Steady, Master Syd, sir, steady," growled the boatswain.  "You can't
+lower yourself to call me Barney now you're commander of a fort, and a
+werry strong one too."
+
+"Oh, very well, bo'sun.  But about that thing, whatever it was.  What do
+you think it could be?"
+
+"Well, sir, I don't see how it could get here; but it's either a monkey
+or some small kind o' nigger as lives nateral like on rocks."
+
+"But what could he live on?"
+
+"Dunno, sir; lickin' on 'em p'r'aps."
+
+"But there's no water."
+
+"No, sir; that's what puzzles me.  The worst on it is it scares the
+lads."
+
+"Well, it is startling.  He did not hit it, I suppose?"
+
+"Hit it?" said the boatswain, contemptuously; "not him, sir.  Get's
+thinking it's--there, I arn't going to say what he thinks.  Sailors has
+all kind o' Davy Jonesy ideas in their heads till they gets promoted,
+and then o' course they're obliged to be 'bove all that sort of thing."
+
+"When do you think the frigate will be back?"
+
+"Can't say, sir.  Not so long as the wind's blowing like this."
+
+"Oh!" ejaculated Syd; "so unfortunate.  Just as we want the surgeon so
+badly."
+
+"What for, sir?"
+
+"Mr Dallas, of course."
+
+"Surgeon?  What do he want with a surgeon?  You mended him a deal better
+than I've seen poor chaps patched in the cockpit during an action, when
+the surgeon and his mates was busy.  Look ye here, Master Syd, I've
+knowed you ever since you was a bit of a toddlin' thing as held on to my
+finger--this here one--and couldn't get your little dumpy things right
+round it; and you know me, sir, I wouldn't say a word to praise you as I
+didn't mean."
+
+"Oh, I don't know, Strake."
+
+"Then you may know, sir; I wouldn't--theer!  And I says to you now as a
+honest man as never took nothin' worse than one o' them yaller gummy
+plums off the wall--them as crack right open like wide mouths, and seems
+to be putting out their stones at you laughin' like, and sayin', eat me
+if you dare.  Well, sir, I say as a honest man, if ever I'm wounded I
+don't want no surgeon but you."
+
+"Oh, nonsense, man!  There'll be a long serious time yet when he wants
+the surgeon's attention."
+
+"Not him, sir.  No: we'll do all that."
+
+"I hope so, Strake.  But now we are alone, tell me what I am to do
+to-morrow."
+
+"Just what you like, sir.  If it was me I should mast-head Master Terry,
+if he come any of his games."
+
+"Without a mast-head?"
+
+"No, sir; you'll have to set up one o' them spars, the one with the
+little truck for the halliards right a top o' the highest pynte, to fly
+the Bri'sh colours, and you can send him there."
+
+"But about this place, and men?"
+
+"Oh, I dunno, sir.  If it was me I should set the lads to level the
+gun-platforms a bit, and some o' the others to build up two or three
+walls with the loose rocks for us to roof in.  One for the men, one for
+the orficers, and one for the stores."
+
+"Yes, I thought of doing that."
+
+"Why, of course you did, sir.  And then you could give the men some
+gun-drill, and arter that wait till the enemy comes."
+
+"Yes, and when the enemy comes?"
+
+"Send him back with a flea in his ear.  No room for no Frenchies here."
+
+"I hope they won't come," said Syd, half to himself.
+
+"Now, now, now, sir; no yarns to an old sailor," said the boatswain,
+chuckling.  "I can believe a deal, but I can't believe that."
+
+"Don't talk nonsense, Strake.  Look here, is there anything else to be
+done?"
+
+"Well, sir, it seems to me, going over it all as I have been, that
+you've been thinking that we've got our prog here, and some water, and
+not enough of it till the frigate comes back, so that you might put the
+lads on 'lowance so as to make sure."
+
+"Ah, I had not thought of that."
+
+"Beggin' your pardon, sir, you had, only it hadn't come up yet.  That
+there was a thing to be thought on by a commanding orficer, and course
+you thought on it, on'y talking to me promiskus like you forgetted it.
+Then there's another thing.  The skipper never thought 'bout going far
+away from here, I s'pose, and there's precious little wood, so I'll tell
+the cook he's to let it off easy, if so be as you says I am."
+
+"Yes, of course, Strake.  Tell him."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir.  We may have the luck to get some drift timber chucked up
+among the rocks; but if we do it'll want a deal o' drying 'fore it's
+good to burn."
+
+"No, we must not reckon on that."
+
+"Arter seeing to these two or three little things 'cordin' to your
+orders, sir, I should say that you've got as snug a little fort to hold
+as any one could wish, and all you'll want then is a sight o' the enemy
+to make you quite happy."
+
+The boatswain ceased speaking, and Syd stood laughing to himself, but
+treasuring up what had been said, as the wind swept overhead, and the
+waves kept on thundering in over the natural pier; though strangely
+enough the noise of the waves at this end of the gap also passed right
+up and away, so that it was possible to talk in a low tone, and hear the
+slightest sound anywhere near.
+
+They had been standing like this for some time when Syd suddenly laid
+his hand on the boatswain's arm.
+
+"What's that?" he said, in a low whisper.
+
+"Dunno, sir," whispered back the boatswain.  "Trying to make out.  I
+heard it twyste afore.  What did it sound like to you?"
+
+"One stone striking against another."
+
+"That's it, sir, exact.  Don't say any more here.  It'll only scare yon
+chap.  Sailors is easily frightened 'bout what they don't understand."
+
+They stood listening for some few minutes, but there was no farther
+sound, so they bade the man on guard keep a sharp look-out, though for
+what Syd could not have said, and turned to go up to the tent and see if
+Mr Dallas was awake.
+
+As they approached the place where the fire had been, a faint waft of
+the wind passed down the gap, and as it swept over the embers they
+brightened up, and shed sufficient light for Syd to see something
+creeping softly by the spot.
+
+Syd caught the boatswain's arm, and a gentle tap from the rough fellow's
+hand seemed to express that he knew, and had noticed.  This was so
+evidently the object that had twice before been seen, that now was the
+time to convince themselves whether it was human, or some quadruped
+dwelling on the rock.
+
+"If I whisper," thought Syd, "it will take alarm, I know."
+
+He caught the boatswain's arm again and tried to draw him away back into
+the darkness.  For the moment Strake resisted, then he gave way and
+allowed himself to be drawn toward the man on guard.
+
+"Now we shall lose him, sir," said the boatswain in a gruff whisper.
+"I'd got my eye on him, and was just a-going to give a pounce when you
+stopped it."
+
+"Yes; but look here, Strake," whispered Syd.  "Each time it has been
+seen it came up this way from somewhere close to the gun.  If we stop
+here we shall trap it."
+
+"But will it come back by here?"
+
+"Yes, I feel sure.  It goes up there to prowl about and get food, and
+then it comes back to hide somewhere here in these cracks among the
+rocks."
+
+"Werry good, sir; I dare say you knows best.  What shall I do--shoot it,
+or give it a chop with the cutlash?"
+
+"No; it may be a man--and we don't want to shed blood."
+
+"Right, sir.  Then we watches here?"
+
+"Yes," said Syd, taking his place behind a block of stone, though it was
+so dark there was hardly need to hide.  Strake followed his example, and
+they crouched down, with their ears on the strain, satisfied now that
+the clicking sound of stones striking together was made by this
+creature, whatever it was.
+
+"You must be on your guard, sir," whispered Strake.  "Whatever it is,
+it'll be sure to scratch or bite.  But so sure as you make a grab I
+shall be there, and he won't kick much with me atop of him.  Hist!"
+
+Syd listened, but there was no sound, and he waited so long that he was
+going to speak to the boatswain and say, "We'll give up now," when a
+curious crunching noise fell upon his ear, and the next moment something
+dark was evidently trotting by them, looking in the darkness like a
+great dog.
+
+With one bound the young midshipman was at it, but it eluded his grasp,
+and ran right at Strake, who was the next moment down on his face.
+
+"Stand, or I fire!" came from a short distance away.
+
+"No, no.  Avast there; it's the captain--I mean Mr Belton and me, my
+lad," growled Strake, getting up.  "See that, Mr Belton, sir; I'd just
+got it when it went right through my legs, and I was down.  Which way
+did it go?"
+
+"Don't know.  I did not even feel it."
+
+"It's a big monkey, sir, or else--I know, sir, it's one o' they small
+bears, and that was biscuit he was chawing.  We'd better shoot him.
+They bites as well as scratches and hugs, besides being very good
+eating, so they say."
+
+"Well, it's of no use to try to catch it now.  Better hunt it from its
+hole by daylight.  Isn't it time Rogers was relieved?"
+
+"Gettin' nigh, sir; on'y it's all on the guess.--Look here, sir, I know;
+we'll smoke the beggar out."
+
+"A capital way," said Syd; "only we've first got to find the hole."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.
+
+The sea was terrific when Sydney took his first look-out next morning,
+after a good restful sleep, and he felt terribly low-spirited, for he
+was experienced enough to see that Mr Dallas was in a very low and
+dangerous state.  He was feverish, and lay wild-eyed and strange,
+evidently recognising no one, but talking in a low, muttering way.
+
+"It's too much to be on my shoulders," Syd said to himself,
+despondently, as he took off his hat, and stood letting the cool morning
+air fan his forehead.  "Mr Dallas wanting a surgeon, Terry setting me
+at defiance, the men half mutinous, and the whole charge of everything
+on my shoulders."
+
+One of his remarks was hardly fair, for the men greeted him with a smile
+and a cheery aspect every time he went near them, and after their
+breakfast worked most energetically to make the improvements suggested
+overnight, so that about sundown Strake smiled in his grim way, and
+touched his hat.
+
+"There, sir," he said; "the captain may come back and land now if he
+likes.  I shouldn't be ashamed to show him round."
+
+"No, Strake; everything is beautifully neat."
+
+"Yes, sir; decks cleared for action.  We're ready for anybody now."
+
+"Have you looked in on the lieutenant lately?"
+
+"Half-hour ago, sir.  Mr Roylance was with him, watching closely."
+
+"Well, don't you think he looks very bad?"
+
+"Yes, sir; purty well.  Bad as one's officer could look to be alive."
+
+"And you talk of it in that cool way."
+
+"Well, sir, how am I to talk?  He's no worse than lots more I've seen."
+
+"But do you think he's dying?"
+
+"Nay: not he, sir.  Lots of life in him yet.  And look here, sir, what
+do you say to that?"
+
+"A bit of biscuit?"
+
+"Yes, sir; that's it.  Monkey, sir, or a bear?"
+
+"I don't understand you, Strake."
+
+"Picked it up, sir, just where we tried to catch him last night.  I'm
+going to lie wait for that gentleman, and give him a pill."
+
+"Oh, never mind about that, Strake; there's so much else to think about.
+I've been in twice to Mr Dallas, and he doesn't know me."
+
+"Dessay not, sir.  Lost a deal of blood, you see.  He's all right, I'm
+sure.  Why, I've seen lots o' men worse than he, ever so much; legs off,
+both on 'em, an' an arm took off fust by a shot and then afterwards by
+the doctors, and they've come round."
+
+"But, Strake--"
+
+"Now, look here, dear lad," whispered the boatswain, speaking earnestly.
+"I wouldn't say what I do if I didn't think it.  Mr Dallas is going to
+be purty bad, I dessay, for a month, but he'll come round."
+
+"But I feel, Strake, as if I have done wrong by him."
+
+"Nat'rally, dear lad; but I feel that you haven't."
+
+"If I could only think that."
+
+"Oh, well then, I'll soon make you.  Let me ask you a question, sir.
+S'pose you hadn't touched Mr Dallas?"
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Nobody else would, of course.  We didn't know how."
+
+"I suppose not."
+
+"Very well then, dear lad, what would have happened?"
+
+"I'm afraid--he would have died."
+
+"And how soon, sir?"
+
+"He would have bled to death.  I can't say how soon.  Before night."
+
+"Exactly, sir.  Well, then, you came and set to work in a way as made
+every Jack here feel as if he'd do anything for you, sir; and it's
+to-morrow now, and the lufftenant arn't dead."
+
+"No, Strake; not yet."
+
+"Nor arn't going to be; what more do you want?  Come, rouse up, my lad,
+and hold your head higher.  Don't be skeered.  Let go at us; call us
+swabs and lubbers, anything you can lay your tongue to; the men 'll like
+it from you.  And as to Mr Terry, as has gone up where I planted the
+flagstaff this morning, don't you fret about him.  He daren't hardly say
+his soul's his own."
+
+"You've planted the flagstaff?"
+
+"Yes, sir; right on the top, fastened it down between some rocks, and
+got guys out to other rocks.  I didn't hyste the colours, for this wind
+would tear the bunting all to rags."
+
+Sydney took a few steps to one side.
+
+"Can't see it from here, sir, or you'd see Mr Terry too, getting
+hisself such a blowing as never was.  He's a-looking out for the
+frigate, him too as studies navigation with the master.  He ought to
+know better."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"As we shan't see the _Sirius_ for a week to come, if we do then."
+
+"Then I must go on as if we were to stay some time," thought Syd; and
+that day was spent in adding to the comfort of their quarters and the
+security of the magazine, in case rain should follow the gale of wind.
+
+Another stormy day followed, and toward night, after spending some time
+by the lieutenant's bedside, Sydney was relieved by Roylance, Terry
+having made no offer to aid, and when asked by Roylance, having replied
+that he was under arrest, and exonerated from such duties.
+
+"What's the weather going to be, bo'sun?" said Syd, meeting that officer
+on the upper platform.
+
+"Don't see no prospect o' change, sir."
+
+"Because as soon as we possibly can, I want the rock properly gone over
+by a strong party, so that we can make sure that there is no other
+landing-place.  We may run down that bear of yours."
+
+"Yes, sir.  He was here again last night."
+
+"Did you see it?"
+
+"No, sir; or I should have spoke."
+
+"No, no; unless the beast proves dangerous, I will not have it shot."
+
+"But the beggar carried off a whole lot o' biscuit last night, sir, and
+a lump o' cold junk."
+
+"Well, that must be stopped at any rate.  What do you say to half a
+dozen men being told off to lie in wait for the brute to-night?"
+
+"No, sir; it's what do you?"
+
+"I say yes," said Syd, and the boatswain brightened up.
+
+"With pistols, of course, sir?"
+
+"No, certainly not," replied Syd, decidedly.  "If we have firing in the
+dark there may be some accident.  Select five men.  There will be
+yourself, Mr Roylance, and I shall be there too.  Eight of us ought to
+hold him if he comes."
+
+"And come he will, sir.  You'll go over the island to-morrow?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"But you didn't say you'd have another thing found."
+
+"What?"
+
+"Water, sir.  If the _Sirius_ is going to leave us here, water must be
+had."
+
+That was a serious matter.  With the gale blowing there was nothing to
+mind as to the sun, but Syd felt that the heat would be felt terribly as
+soon as the wind sank, and with no slight feeling of uneasiness he went
+to his rough quarters, looked into the hospital, where the lieutenant
+lay muttering in his delirium, and beckoned Roylance to come and join in
+the meal.
+
+"Takes one's appetite away to see that poor fellow lying there," said
+Roylance, summoning one of the men to take his place.
+
+"But we must eat to work," said Syd, firmly.  "Here's Terry, I'll ask
+him to come and victual.  I hate seeing him keeping aloof.  Mr Terry,
+coffee is served.  Will you join us?"
+
+Terry started a little, and his face relaxed into a smile.
+
+"Yes," he said quietly, "I am very hungry."
+
+The ice was broken, and the three young fellows sat down to their rough
+meal, one which was, however, thoroughly enjoyed--Terry seeming quite to
+have forgotten the trouble that had caused the estrangement.
+
+But Roylance had not, and that night he said to Syd--
+
+"Don't trust him."
+
+"Trust whom?"
+
+"Terry.  I may be wrong, but if ever a fellow's eyes looked one thing
+and meant another, his did this evening."
+
+"Fancy.  He's beaten, and he has given in, and so, I dare say, we shall
+be fairly good friends for the future."
+
+"Perhaps so," said Roylance, dryly; "but I say, don't trust him all the
+same.  Keep on your guard."
+
+"Can't.  Impossible; and I couldn't go on suspecting every one I saw."
+
+"No, not every one--this one."
+
+"Never mind that.  Don't suppose I shall have any cause to distrust
+him."
+
+"I hope you will not," said Roylance, prophetically.
+
+"Come along."
+
+"Where?  It will be impossible to stand out of shelter."
+
+"We are not going to.  Ah, here is Strake.  Now then, have you got your
+men ready?"
+
+"Ay, ay, sir; but won't you alter your mind about the pistols?"
+
+"Certainly not.  Use your fists, and take the creature, whatever it is,
+alive."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir," said Strake; and leading the way down to the lower gun,
+the men were posted among the rocks, and in the midst of the utter
+darkness, with the dull roar of wind and sea coming in a deep murmur,
+the watch was commenced.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY.
+
+It was strange work keeping that watch, and Syd could not help feeling a
+sensation of dread master him at times.  He knew that Roylance was close
+at hand, that he had but to speak and the old boatswain would come to
+him, while the men were scattered here and there; but all the same it
+was terribly lonely.
+
+For what were they watching?  It might be some wild beast with teeth and
+claws that would rend him if he were the one who seized it, and the
+longer he waited the more reasonable this seemed to be.  It was a
+creature that lived in a cave, or some deep rift among the rocks by day,
+and came prowling out by night in search of food.  Such a creature as
+this must be dangerous.
+
+But the next moment he laughed to himself as he recalled that rabbits
+and many other creatures sought their food by night, and were innocent
+and harmless as doves.  Yet still the feeling of dread came back, and he
+longed for an end of the watch.
+
+"I like danger that I can see," he thought, as he began involuntarily
+rubbing his shoulder that had been struck by the shark, and had taken to
+aching in the moist cool night.
+
+He shivered a little as he recalled the scene that day when he first
+realised the danger of the hideous fish marking him down; and try how he
+would the scene kept growing more vivid.
+
+"I never half thanked those men for saving my life," he said to himself.
+"The brute would have had me if they had not stabbed at it with the
+oars.  What's that?"
+
+He strained his eyes to watch something which appeared to be crawling
+along among the blocks of stone close by, but he could not be sure that
+it was anything alive.
+
+"A stone!" he said, and he went on thinking, not liking to draw
+attention to what most likely was only imagination.  "It would be so
+stupid," he said; "and would alarm the brute and keep it from coming, if
+I was wrong."
+
+So he sat there, crouched up together, his back against the stone, and
+his arms round his knees, which formed a resting-place for his chin,
+till quite a couple of hours of watching and listening to the roar of
+the wind overhead and the beat of the sea beneath had passed away.
+
+"I wonder how Mr Dallas is," he thought at last; and as the scene in
+the rough canvas-covered shelter came to his mind's eye, with the tallow
+candle stuck in a corner of the rock, some of its own fat sealing it
+there, as they had no candlestick, he saw again the sunken cheeks and
+wild, fevered eyes of the wounded man, and pictured his white, cracked
+lips, and the tin pannikin of water placed ready on a box by where he
+lay.
+
+There was some biscuit too, ready to soak and give him a few bits.  He
+thought--"I wonder whether that man has given him any."
+
+Another half-hour passed, during which Syd had forgotten everything but
+his patient, and at last, full of anxiety, he felt that he must go and
+see him.
+
+"No, I will not," he muttered, and he began watching again.
+
+"How contented these sailors are," he said after a time; "how silently
+they sit keeping guard.  I hope they are not asleep."
+
+He crept softly in the direction where Strake was posted, and as he
+neared it he thought to himself that it was a good job he had told the
+boatswain not to bring firearms; but as the thought came he oddly enough
+regretted it.
+
+"If the brute is dangerous it is not fair to the men.  I was wrong.  But
+they must be all asleep, or they would have heard me."
+
+Click, click!
+
+The cocking of a pistol close by.
+
+"Strake!  Don't shoot."
+
+"You, Master Syd!" growled the boatswain, "I thought it was that there
+bear.  Why, you shouldn't come crawling up like that, sir, I might have
+shot at you."
+
+"But I told you not to bring pistols."
+
+"So you did, sir; but as I thought as the brute might stick his teeth
+into me, I felt as you wouldn't like me to be hurt, and so I brought
+'em.  You see, sir, you've only got one bo'sun, and it would be awkward
+if I was killed."
+
+"Look here," whispered Syd, "I'm going up to see how Mr Dallas is.
+Don't make a mistake and fire at me as I come back."
+
+"Don't you be scared about that, sir," growled the boatswain; "I'll take
+care."
+
+"Are the men all awake?"
+
+"Trust 'em, sir.  They've got open eyes."
+
+"I shall not be long," said Syd.
+
+"Right, sir."
+
+"And be careful with that pistol, Strake.  You may use it, though, if
+there is danger."
+
+"Thankye, sir," said the boatswain, and then to himself, "I'll use both
+sooner than have my eyes clawed out, and my nose chawed off."
+
+Syd crept quietly along among the high blocks of rock which dotted the
+chasm, gazing up at the quivering stars once and wishing they gave more
+light, and thinking of what shelter these rocks would give if the French
+ever did attack them and were in such numbers that they took the lower
+gun, and came swarming along into the gap.
+
+"We could keep them off after all, I dare say," he said.  By this time
+he was close up to the rough shelter which the men had dubbed the
+hospital.  Drawing aside the canvas hung down over the doorway, he was
+about to step in when there was a rush, the candle was knocked down, and
+by its feeble glimmer, where it lay on the rocky floor, he caught a
+glimpse of something dark which rushed at him, drove him backwards, and
+disappeared in the darkness.
+
+"You stupid idiot!" cried Syd, in a loud whisper.  "Frightened him, I
+suppose, going in so quickly."
+
+He once more stepped into the rough place, to see with astonishment the
+sailor who had been placed there to relieve Roylance, in the act of
+picking up the candle from where it lay flickering on the floor.
+
+"Tumbled down, sir," said the man, confusedly.
+
+"Tumbled down!" cried Sydney, in an angry whisper; "why, you lazy
+rascal, you were asleep!"
+
+"Sleep, sir?"
+
+"Yes.  Who was that in here just now?"
+
+"Here, sir; and banged out o' the door there!  Wasn't it you?"
+
+"No--no," whispered Syd, who grasped the position now; "it must have
+been that beast we are trying to catch.  Yes; he has taken the biscuit
+that lay there while you slept."
+
+"Very sorry, sir; been hard at work, and--"
+
+Sydney heard no more.  He had dashed out of the canvas-covered hut and
+run swiftly down toward the lower gun.
+
+"Look out, Roylance!  Strake!" he shouted; "it's coming your way."
+
+_Bang_!
+
+A pause as the shot echoed among the rocks.  Then there was another
+report, and a wild cry.  Then silence, broken directly after by the
+muttering of men's voices.
+
+"Got it," cried Syd.
+
+"Yes; Strake has brought it down.  It came with a rush between us, and
+he fired, and then fired again."
+
+"Yes, I heard.  What is it--a bear?"
+
+"Don't know; we want a candle.  I'll fetch the one from Mr Dallas's
+place and shade it with my hat."
+
+Roylance went on toward the hospital, while Sydney cautiously felt his
+way among the rocks, full of excitement and eagerness to learn what the
+strange creature might be.
+
+"Hi! where are you?" he shouted.
+
+"This way, sir," answered a voice, which he recognised as that of
+Rogers.
+
+He hurried on, the shout coming from close by the lower gun, and as he
+reached the spot he made out the group of figures, and heard the
+boatswain's gruff voice groaning out--
+
+"Oh, lor'!  Oh, lor'!  Oh, lor'!"  Then in angry tones--"It sarved you
+right.  No business carrying on games like that."
+
+"What's the matter?" cried Syd.  "Is any one hurt?  Haven't you shot the
+bear?"
+
+"It warn't no bear, sir," said Rogers, excitedly; "it was young Pan
+Strake, and his father's brought him down."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY ONE.
+
+"Ha' mussy on us!  Here, Mr Belton, sir, quick," cried the boatswain,
+hoarsely.  "You said I warn't to bring pistols.  Wish him as 'vented 'em
+had been drowned first.  Look ye here, sir; is no one going to bring a
+light?  Mr Belton, sir; Master Syd; pray make haste.  I've made you
+another job."
+
+All this in a wild, excited manner, as, trembling now with horror,
+Sydney knelt down by a dark-looking object on the rocks, lying quite
+motionless, and for a few moments he could not collect himself
+sufficiently to render any aid.
+
+"Ha' mussy on us!" groaned the boatswain.  Then with an angry burst, "I
+want to know how he got here."
+
+"Stowed hisself away in the boat," said one of the men, "when we corned
+away, but I thought he'd gone back again to the ship."
+
+"Brought him down.  My own boy," groaned the boatswain.  "Ah, here's the
+light."
+
+"Quick!  Stand round so as to shelter the candle," cried Syd, who was
+now recovering himself and trying to act in a calm, business-like
+manner; and directly after he was kneeling there in the centre of that
+ring of anxious faces, and proceeding by the light of the candle, which
+the boatswain held down, to examine the boy, who lay curled up in a
+heap.
+
+To all appearances he was dead, so still did he lie; but the moment Syd
+took hold of one hand to feel the injured boy's pulse, there was a
+sudden spasmodic jerk and a loud yell which went echoing up the valley.
+
+"Hah!" ejaculated Syd, for he knew it was a good sign.  "Hold still,
+Pan," he continued, gently; "let me see where you are hurt."
+
+"Let him be, sir.  I've killed um, I know I have!"
+
+Syd tried to find where the boy was wounded, but at every touch Pan
+shrieked out as if in agony, and kicked out his legs and drew himself up
+again as if trying to make himself into a ball.
+
+"It's all over with the poor lad, sir," groaned Strake.  "Better let him
+die in peace, and I gives myself up, sir.  Nothin' but misfortun' here."
+
+"Try and bear it, Pan," said Syd, gently.  "I must see where you are
+hurt before I can do you any good."
+
+But the boy shrieked out wildly every time he was touched, and after
+many essays, Syd felt ready to give up in despair.
+
+"Ha' mussy on us!" groaned the boatswain.  "Where's he got it, sir?"
+
+"I'm afraid it is somewhere in the body, Strake," replied Syd, softly;
+"but I don't like to give him pain.--Is the hurt in your chest, Pan?"
+
+The boy shrieked again, as a hand was slid into his bosom.
+
+"I'm afraid it is there, Barney; I ought to examine him and stop the
+bleeding."
+
+"Yes, sir; course you ought; but I don't like to see you hurt the boy."
+
+"No, it is very terrible, but I'll be as gentle as I can.  Come, Pan,
+lad, be a man, and let me see where you are hurt."
+
+Syd touched him again, but there was another yell and kick, not before
+the boy pressed his chin down in his chest, and cried out more wildly
+than ever.
+
+"Is his spine injured?" cried Roylance.
+
+"Can't be," replied Syd, "or he could not kick out like he does."
+
+"And for the same reason his legs must be all right," said Roylance.
+
+"Spine of his back and his legs," said Strake; "well, that's something
+to be thankful for."
+
+"The bullet must have lodged in his chest," said Syd, "and I dare say
+perhaps has injured him fatally.  No blood visible; he must be bleeding
+inside."
+
+There was a pause after a couple more attempts to inspect the injury.
+
+Then, after a little thought, Syd said, firmly--
+
+"Pan, I must examine your wound."
+
+The boy curled up more tightly.
+
+"It is of no use, Strake," continued Syd, firmly, and unconsciously
+imitating Doctor Liss with a stupid patient on the south coast; "it is
+my duty to examine your boy's wound.  He may bleed to death if it is not
+done.  Two or three of you must hold him."
+
+A yell burst from Pan at this announcement, and Syd and Roylance
+exchanged glances.
+
+The patient was evidently quite sensible.
+
+"Smith, hold his legs," said Syd; "Strake, you and Rogers each take an
+arm.  I will be as tender as I can."
+
+"Hadn't we better let him die in peace, sir?" groaned the boatswain.
+
+"No; not till everything has been done to try and save him."
+
+"Oh!" yelled Pan.
+
+"Now then, as softly as you can.  Once I see where he is injured, I
+shall be able to know what to do."
+
+"Very well, sir," said the boatswain, piteously.  "There, my poor boy, I
+won't hurt you much," and he took Pan's arm.
+
+A shriek made him let go and jump away to begin wiping his brow.
+
+"Again: quick, and let's get it done, Strake," whispered Syd.  "Ready?
+Now then, all together."
+
+"Oh!" yelled Pan, but the men held on, and Syd was about to tear open
+the boy's shirt, when Rogers exclaimed--
+
+"Sleeve's all wet here, sir," and he pointed to the fleshy part of the
+boy's arm.
+
+"Oh lor'!" groaned Strake.
+
+"Ah, let me see," cried Syd, eagerly; and he took out and opened his
+knife.
+
+Pan's eyes were wide open now, and he stared in a horrified manner at
+the blade.
+
+"No, no, no," he yelled.  "I won't have it off; I won't have it off."
+
+"Hold the wrist tight," said Syd.
+
+Rogers obeyed, and with the boy shrieking horribly, the point of the
+knife was inserted and his sleeve ripped right up to the shoulder.
+
+"Hah!" exclaimed Syd, closing his knife, as he caught sight of the wound
+in the thick of the arm.  "It has not bled much.  Hold the light here
+more closely."
+
+"No, no," yelled Pan.  "I won't have it off."
+
+"The bone is all right," said Syd, continuing his examination; "but the
+bullet must be there.  Look: here it is!"
+
+In fact there it was, lying in the sleeve, having passed clean through,
+and of course making a second wound.
+
+"There, that will not hurt," said Syd, coolly.  "Now let's see about his
+chest."
+
+"No," yelled Pan, bursting into a fit of blubbering; "there arn't
+nothing there.  T'other one missed me."
+
+The boatswain drew himself up and seemed to be taking a tremendously
+long breath.
+
+"I'm very glad, Pan," said Syd.  "Now, come, be a man.  I'm just going
+to put a little pellet of rag over those two holes, and bind them up
+tightly.  I won't hurt you much."
+
+"No, no, no," howled Pan; "you'll take it off.  I won't have it cut
+off."
+
+"I tell you I'm going to bandage your arm up, and you'll have it in a
+sling."
+
+"No, no," yelled Pan.
+
+"And on'y winged him arter all," cried the boatswain in his familiar
+gruff tones.
+
+"Will you be quiet, boy?" cried Sydney, almost angrily now.
+
+"Sit up, you swab," roared the boatswain; and Pan started into a sitting
+position on the instant.  "You, Rogers, go up to the stores and get me
+three foot o' rope, thickest you can find.--Look ye here, Panny-mar," he
+continued, rolling up his sleeve and holding out his enormous fist close
+to the boy's nose, "see that?"
+
+"Yes, father."
+
+"You turned yerself into a stowaway and comed ashore without leave;
+you've been turning yerself into a bear and a monkey, and living in the
+holes o' the rocks by day, and coming out and stealing the prog by
+night."
+
+"I was so hungry, father," whispered Pan, who forgot his wound.
+
+"Yah! hungry indeed!  And then you've been giving your father the
+worsest quarter of a hour he ever had in his life, and making his heart
+bust with haggerny.  You shammed dead at first, then you made believe as
+you was hurt, when there was nothing the matter with yer but a little
+bit of a hole through one arm."
+
+"Oh!" moaned Pan, turning his eyes upon his white arm, where a bead of
+blood was visible.
+
+"And then you kicked out as if all your upper rigging was shattered with
+chain-shot, and every kick went right through me.  So now, look here:
+your young captain's going to bandage that there bit o' nothing up, and
+if you give so much as one squeak, you'll have my fist fust and the
+rope's-end arter till you dance such a hornpipe as never was afore."
+
+"Oh!" moaned Pan.
+
+"Ah!"
+
+There was silence for a moment, and then all present burst into a roar
+of laughter, so great was the relief that the boy was not very bad.
+
+"Ah, you may laugh, my lads," said the boatswain, looking round; "but I
+do declare I'd sooner have a leg off with a shot than go through all
+that again.  Thought I'd shot him."
+
+"So you did, father," cried Pan, with a vicious look.
+
+"Yah!  Hold your tongue!  Call that shot?  No more than having a
+sail-needle slip and go through yer."
+
+"But it hurts like red-hot poker."
+
+"Good job too.  Nothing to what you made me feel as I see yer lying
+there.--Lying!  Yes, that's the word, for yer did lie, yer shamming
+young swab."
+
+Pan began to cry silently, as Syd busied himself bandaging his hurt.
+
+"And now he's a piping his eye like a great gal on Shoreport Hard.
+Panny-mar, I'm proud o' you, I am; but I feel that bad, Mr Belton, sir,
+that I'd take it kindly if you'd order me a tot o' rum."
+
+"Take him up and give him one, Mr Roylance," said Sydney, quickly; and
+while he went on bandaging the arm which Rogers held for him, Roylance
+and the boatswain went up to the chests and kegs which formed the
+stores, and filled a little tin.
+
+"Thankye, sir," said Strake, holding out one of his great gnarled hands
+for the tin, but drawing it back, for it trembled so that he could not
+take the rum; but he turned sharply round, laid his arm against the
+rock, and laid his face upon it, to stand so for some minutes before he
+turned back, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand.
+
+"Bit watery, sir, that's all," he said, with a smile.  "Don't tell Mr
+Belton, sir, what you see.  Most men got their soft bit somewhere.  I
+dunno, though.  I've knowed Master Syd from a babby, and I wouldn't mind
+if you told he; but pray don't say a word before Mr Mike Terry.
+Thankye, sir.--Hah!  That's good rum, as I well knows.  Here's success
+to yer, sir, and may you never know what it is to be a father."  With
+which doubtful wish the boatswain drained the tin and smacked his lips.
+
+"Well, sir, since you are so kind, I--No, put it away, my lad.  No more
+to-night."
+
+The rum was replaced, and they rejoined the group near the lower gun,
+just as the finishing touches were being given to Pan's wound by means
+of a handkerchief being tied loosely about his neck to act as a sling.
+
+"Got that bit o' rope, lad?" said the boatswain, and then, "Thankye," as
+it was handed to him.  "Beg pardon, sir, ought this here boy to have his
+fust dose to-night or to-morrer morning?"
+
+"Not till I prescribe it, Strake," said Syd, smiling, and the old man
+coiled up the piece of rope and put it in his pocket, very much to Pan's
+relief.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY TWO.
+
+"And where have you been?" said Syd next day, after examining his second
+patient's injury.
+
+"Down in a big hole yonder," said the boy.  "It's on'y a sort o' crack,
+but as soon as you gets through there's plenty o' room; and when I'd got
+a blanket and a bit o' sail to sleep on, it beat the straw corner up in
+the tater-loft at home all to nothing, on'y I was getting very tired o'
+nearly always biscuit.  I say, Master Sydney, sir, you won't let father
+give me the rope's-end will you?"
+
+"You deserve it for smuggling yourself on shore."
+
+"Didn't you smuggle yourself ashore too, sir?" said Pan, innocently.
+
+Sydney and Roylance exchanged glances, and went to see how Mr Dallas
+was getting on.
+
+The morning had broken bright and fine, the wind had gone down, though
+the sea was still fretting and breaking on the rocky islet; but the high
+spirits in which the lads were became damped directly as they stood
+gazing down at the wreck of the fine handsome man lying there before
+them, hovering as it were between life and death.
+
+"I wouldn't care, Roy," said Syd, "if I could only do anything but
+attend to those wretched bandages."
+
+"You do a good deal," was the reply.
+
+"Oh, it seems like nothing.  One gets no further, and I always go in to
+see him feeling as if it was for the last time."
+
+Partly to get rid of his painful thoughts Sydney worked hard with the
+men till everything possible under the circumstances had been done.
+Rocks had been shifted, breastworks built, and the place was so added
+to, that if an enemy should come, the scaling of the cliff over the
+landing-place and capture of the lower gun did not mean defeat.  There
+was quite a little fort to attack half-way up the gap, and then there
+was a stout wall built across behind the second gun, which could be
+slewed round ready for an attack from the land side.
+
+Two mornings later, just after Sydney had been again combining the
+duties of surgeon and commander, Strake came up to him.
+
+"Going to order that boy a rope's-ending now, sir?" he said.
+
+"Not yet, Strake."
+
+"Done with him, sir?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then I'd like a word with you in private."
+
+The privacy consisted in a walk to the upper gun, where, after a look
+round in the calm sunlit sea in search of the frigate, the boatswain
+said--
+
+"Enemy's here, sir."
+
+"Where?" cried Syd, excitedly, looking out to sea again.  "I was up at
+the flagstaff an hour ago, and Mr Terry's there now.  He has not given
+the alarm."
+
+"Didn't look in the right place," said the boatswain, oracularly.  "I
+did."
+
+"Don't play with me, Strake; where is he?"
+
+"In the tubs, sir."
+
+"What!"
+
+"On'y water enough to last four more days."
+
+Syd looked at him aghast.
+
+"We must have sails and casks ready to catch every drop when the rain
+comes," cried Syd.
+
+"Ay, sir, when it comes; but it don't come."
+
+"Then what shall we do?"
+
+"I ought to say die o' thirst, sir, on'y it sounds so unpleasant."
+
+"But my father, surely he'll be here soon.  He knows how we are
+situated, and the other ship knows too.  They will be sure to come."
+
+"I don't want to upset you, sir, but I do say the captain's a long while
+coming."
+
+"What's to be done, Roy?  Hi, Mr Terry, will you join here?" said Syd,
+who had gone in search of his companion.
+
+Terry came up smiling pleasantly.
+
+"I have bad news for you.  The water is nearly done.  Can you make out
+why it is the frigate does not come?"
+
+Roylance shook his head, and Syd turned to Terry.
+
+"Of course I cannot say," replied the latter; "and I don't like to make
+you uncomfortable; but the captain seemed to me to be such a particular
+man, that I fear something has happened."
+
+"Happened?"
+
+"Yes; his frigate has either been taken by the enemy, or gone ashore in
+the storm."
+
+"Oh!" ejaculated Sydney, with an agonised look at Roylance.  "You don't
+think this?"
+
+Roylance was silent.
+
+"Why don't you speak?" cried Syd, excitedly.  "It's absurd to pretend to
+help one, and then stand and stare at him like this."
+
+"I did not want to hurt your feelings," said Roylance, quietly.
+
+"Never mind my feelings; speak out."
+
+"I have thought so for the past two days," said Roylance, gravely.
+"When Captain Belton put us ashore here, he meant to be in constant
+communication with the rock.  He knew that we could do little without
+his help, and his being close at hand."
+
+"But the storm made him put to sea," said Syd, excitedly.  "I know
+enough of navigation for that, though I've not been a sailor long.  I've
+heard my father and my uncle talk about it; and he has not had time yet
+to come back."
+
+His two companions were silent.
+
+"Do you hear what I say?  He has not had time to come back."
+
+Still there was no reply, and Syd turned sharply away to go to the
+stores and make out for himself how long their provisions would last.
+But in his bewildered state, with the cares of his position increasing
+at a terrible rate, the task was more than he cared to see to, and
+asking himself what he should do, he took his way up the higher side of
+the gap, climbing slowly, with the heat making him feel faint, higher
+and higher, till he stood where the well-guyed flag-pole rose up with
+its halyards flapping against the side.
+
+"It seems too much for me," he thought, "and I may be wrong, but Terry
+looked pleased at my being so worried.  No water; the provisions running
+out; my father's ship lost--no, I will not believe that.  He's too
+clever.  It only wants the enemy to come out now and attack us to make
+it more than I can bear."
+
+He stood with one arm round the flagstaff, gazing at the distant port of
+Saint Jacques, wondering whether the people there knew of the English
+occupying the rock, and if they did, whether they would make an effort
+to drive them out.
+
+But though he gazed long at the houses, which looked white in the
+sunshine, there was nothing to be seen, and he swept the horizon once
+more to see the dazzling blue sea everywhere, but no sail in sight.
+
+He sighed as he let his anxious eyes rest on the deep soft blue of the
+water, close in, and became interested directly, for in one spot a cloud
+of silver seemed to be sweeping along--a cloud which, from his south
+coast life, he was not long in determining to be a great shoal of fish
+playing on the surface, and leaping out clear every now and then as they
+fed on the small fry that vainly endeavoured to escape.
+
+Syd's countenance cleared directly.
+
+"Why didn't I think of it before?  I ought to have known that a rock is
+of all places the best for fish.  We need not starve."
+
+He hurried down to find the boatswain, and propose to utilise some of
+the men, who were idling about in the shade cast by the overhanging
+rocks, and met the old sailor looking more serious than before.
+
+"I say, Strake," cried Syd, "why should not some of the men fish?"
+
+"Got no boat, sir."
+
+"Then let them fish from the rock."
+
+"That's just what Rogers has gone off to do, sir, by that patch o' rocks
+where we landed, and Mr Roylance and Mr Terry's gone to look on."
+
+"Mr Terry should be on duty," said Sydney, colouring slightly.
+
+"Ought he, sir?  I thought he was under arrest."
+
+"We are not in a position here to study such things as that, Strake.
+Mr Terry is friendly now, and we want his help."
+
+Syd walked straight to the lower gun, descended a rope-ladder, which had
+been made and slung down for their convenience, and found the little
+group on the natural pier.
+
+"Mr Terry, a word, please, with you."
+
+"With me? yes," said the midshipman, looking at him wonderingly as he
+followed his young companion aside.  "What is it?"
+
+"You have forgotten that you are under arrest, sir," said Syd.  "I know
+it may seem absurd," he added quickly, as he saw Terry smile, "but it
+would be the captain's wish that good discipline should be kept up on
+the rock.  Be good enough to stay with the men."
+
+"Oh, this is too--I beg your pardon, Mr Belton," cried Terry, mastering
+an outbreak of passion, and speaking in a cold, formal way.  "You are
+right, sir; I'll go back."
+
+He went off at once, with Syd watching him till he had mounted the
+rope-ladder, where he paused to speak to the men by the gun, and then
+went on up the gap.
+
+"One don't feel as if he was to be trusted," said Syd to himself,
+wearily.  "He is too easy and obedient, and I'm afraid he hates me.  I
+wish he was in command instead.  It would be much easier for me, and I
+feel such a boy."
+
+A shout behind him made him start and look round, to see that Rogers,
+who had been seated on the edge of a piece of stone waiting patiently,
+had now started up, and was playing at tug with a fish he had hooked--
+one which was splashing about on the top of the water as the man began
+to haul in his long line.
+
+All at once, as the silvery sides of the fish were seen flopping about,
+the water parted and a long, lithe, snaky-looking creature flashed out
+like lightning, seized the hooked fish, and flung itself round it in a
+complete knot, making Rogers cease hauling, and watch what was going on
+in dismay.
+
+"Haul, my man, haul!  You'll get them both," cried Syd, excitedly; and
+two other men who were looking on ran to help.
+
+But as they drew hard on the line, there was abundant floundering, the
+water flew up in a shower of silver, and then the line came in easily,
+for the captive was gone.
+
+"Look at that now," said Rogers, good-temperedly.  "They're beginning to
+bite, though, and no mistake."
+
+He rebaited his hook, and threw out as far as he could, beginning to
+tighten the line directly after, and then hauling in rapidly, for the
+bait was taken at once, and though some longish creature made a savage
+dash at it, the sailor was successful in getting a good-sized
+mullet-like fish safe on the rock.
+
+"Got him that time, sir," he said, merrily, as he rebaited and threw in
+again.
+
+Syd was delighted at the man's success, and stood watching eagerly for
+the next bite.
+
+"I don't know what it is," said Roylance, who was examining the capture,
+"but it must weigh four pounds, and it looks good to eat."
+
+"Here you are again, sir," cried Rogers, hauling away, with another fish
+at the end of his line.  "You've brought me good luck, sir.  Hah!  Look
+at that!"
+
+For there was another splash and a sudden check, followed by a battle
+between the sailor and some great thing which had seized his captive.
+
+"'Tarn't one o' them snaky-looking chaps this time, sir.  Hooray! he's
+gone.--Well, now, I do call that mean."
+
+For he hauled in about a third of the fish he had hooked, the other
+two-thirds having been bitten off.
+
+"Cut a piece off the silvery part and put on your hook."
+
+"To be sure, sir; but hadn't I better cut off all but the head, and
+leave that on?"
+
+"Try it," said Syd, who forgot all his cares of government over the
+sport.
+
+The man whipped out his knife and cut through the remains of his fish
+just at the gills, throwing out the bright silvery lure, and the moment
+it touched the water, all fresh and bleeding, it was seized by a heavy
+fish, which he dragged in successfully, for it to be flapping about with
+its scales as large as florins flashing in the sun, all silver and
+steely blue.
+
+"Ten pounds, if he's an ounce," cried Roylance.  "I say, Rogers, are you
+going to have all the fun?"
+
+"No, sir.  Have a try," cried the man.  "I'll soon put you on a good
+bait.  Look here, sir, this head's on tight.  Try it again."
+
+Roylance threw in his line, but there was no answering attack; and he
+waited a few minutes, with the waves carrying it here and there.
+
+"No good," he said.  "Cut a fresh bait."
+
+But as he spoke there was a jerk which made the line cut into his hand,
+followed by a desperate struggle, and another, the largest fish yet, was
+landed; one not unlike the last caught, but beautifully banded with
+blue.
+
+"Why, here's provision for as long as we like to stay," cried Syd.
+
+"And how are we to cook it?  We have not much more wood?"
+
+"We'll dry it in the sun, if we can't manage any other way.  Now throw
+out just to the left of that rock."
+
+Roylance was already aiming in that direction, the bait falling a couple
+of yards to the left; and if it had been aimed right into a fish's
+mouth, the answering tug, which betokened the getting home of the hook,
+could not have been more rapid.  Then followed a minute's exciting play,
+a tremendous jerk, and the hook came back baitless and fishless.
+
+"Never mind, sir; try again.  Strikes me it's sharks is lying out there,
+waiting to get hold of all we ketches, 'cause the weather's too hot for
+'em to do it themselves.  There you are, sir; as shiny silver a bait as
+any one could have."
+
+There was another cast, and in less than a minute a fresh fish was
+hooked, and this escaped the savage jaws waiting to seize it, and was
+hauled in.
+
+"There, that's the biggest yet," cried Syd.  "Fifteen pounder, I know."
+
+"You try now," said Roylance, and for the next half-hour, with varying
+success, they fished on, for there was to be quite a feast that evening,
+the men hailing with delight so capital a change from their salt meat
+diet; while there was supreme satisfaction in Sydney's heart, for he had
+solved one of the difficulties he had to face--the sea would supply them
+with ample food.
+
+"If we could only find water, and get some drift-wood, we could hold on
+till my father comes back."
+
+As he said these last words, he saw a peculiar look of doubt in his
+companion's eyes--a look which sent a chill of dread through him for a
+few minutes.
+
+"No," he said, "I will not think that; he'll come yet, and all will be
+right."
+
+Just then Pan came down from the hospital, where he had been placed to
+keep watch by Mr Dallas's rough bed and call if there seemed any need.
+
+"Mr Dallas says, sir, will you come to him directly."
+
+"Mr Dallas--he said that?" cried Syd, joyfully.
+
+"Whispered it, sir, so's you could hardly hear him, and then he said,
+`Water!'"
+
+"Water!" thought Syd, with the feeling of despair coming back, "and we
+have hardly a drop left."
+
+As he thought this, he hurried up to the little canvas-covered place.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY THREE.
+
+As Syd entered the place he was startled by the change visible in the
+young lieutenant, and his heart smote him as, forgetting the long nights
+of watching and his constant attention to the injured man, he felt that
+he had forgotten him and his urgent duties and responsibilities to go
+amusing himself by fishing off the rocks.
+
+"Ah, Belton!" greeted him; "I am glad you have come."
+
+"Why?" thought Syd, with a feeling of horror chilling him--"why is he
+glad I've come?" and something seemed to whisper--"is it the end?"
+
+"I'm afraid I am impatient; my leg hurts, and I've been asleep and
+dreaming since you dressed it so cleverly yesterday."
+
+"Dressed it yesterday!" faltered Syd, as he recalled the days and nights
+of anxiety passed since the injury.
+
+"Yes; you thought I was insensible, but I heard everything," said the
+lieutenant, slowly.  "I saw everything; felt everything."
+
+"You knew when I dressed it yesterday, with the boy standing here?"
+
+"No, no; out yonder below the place where that wretched gun was to be
+mounted, and the sun came down so hot."
+
+Syd laid his hand upon the young officer's brow, but it was quite cool.
+
+"I am terribly weak, but I don't feel feverish, as so many men are when
+they are wounded.  I suppose I bled a great deal."
+
+"Terribly; but don't--don't talk about it now."
+
+"But I want to talk about it a bit; and then I am hungry, but I don't
+feel as if I could eat salt meat."
+
+"A little fish?" said Syd, eagerly.
+
+"Ah! the very thing."
+
+"Wait a minute," cried Syd, and running out, he gave orders to one of
+the men for one of the fish to be cooked for the invalid.
+
+"Fish, eh?" said Mr Dallas, when Syd returned.
+
+"Yes, sir; I've been--we've been fishing this morning, and caught a good
+many."
+
+"That's right, but the men must not idle; I want to give some
+instructions to you about getting up that gun."
+
+"Hadn't you better lie still and let me talk to you?" said Syd, smiling.
+
+"No, my boy; I must not give up, in spite of being weak.  It was very
+unfortunate--my accident yesterday.  It was yesterday, wasn't it--not
+to-day?"
+
+"No; not to-day."
+
+"Of course not; I've been asleep, and had terribly feverish dreams.  But
+business, my dear boy.  First of all, though, let me thank you for your
+clever doctoring."
+
+"Oh, don't talk about it, sir," said Sydney, quickly.
+
+"But I must talk about it.  How did you learn so much?"
+
+Syd told him.
+
+"A most fortunate thing for me, Belton; I should have bled to death.
+But now about that gun.  Call the bo'sun, and I'll have it up at once;
+it is an urgent matter."
+
+"It is up, sir."
+
+"What!--How did you manage it?"
+
+"The boatswain had it packed in a cask, and it was rolled up."
+
+"Excellent!  How quick you have been!  The other must be got up too, the
+same way."
+
+"They are both up, Mr Dallas."
+
+The lieutenant stared.
+
+"Is this some trick?" he said, excitedly; "a plan to keep me quiet?--
+because if so, Belton, it is a mistake.  It makes me anxious about the
+captain's plans."
+
+"Don't be anxious, Mr Dallas.  I did not like to tell you at first, for
+fear it should trouble you.  Don't you understand that you have been
+lying here for many days and nights, quite off your head?"
+
+"No!"
+
+"And we thought you would die; but--but--" cried Belton, in a choking
+voice, "you are getting better, and know me now."
+
+The lieutenant lay with his eyes closed and his lips moving for some
+minutes before he spoke again, and then his voice was very husky.
+
+"No, my boy," he said, "I did not understand that.  But it is quite
+natural; I could not have been so weak without.  Tell me now, though,
+what has been done."
+
+"Everything, sir.  The guns are mounted; there are good platforms; we
+have built rough covering walls and mounted a flagstaff.  Everything
+that Strake, Mr Roylance, and I could think of has been done."
+
+"But the captain--did he send the surgeon ashore, and some one else to
+take command here?"
+
+"No," said Sydney, and he explained their position.
+
+"It is very strange," said the injured man, thoughtfully, and soon
+afterward Strake appeared, bringing in the freshly-cooked fish, of which
+the invalid partook; and then, seeming to be drowsy, he was left to
+sleep.
+
+The next morning Sydney explained more fully their position, and the
+lieutenant listened eagerly.
+
+"I can't be much use to you, Belton," he said.
+
+"Oh, yes, you can, sir; you'll command, and we'll do what you tell us."
+
+"No, my dear fellow, I shall not even interfere.  You are in command;
+you have done wonders, and I shall let you go on.  But I hope you will
+let me be counsellor, and come to me for advice."
+
+"No, no, sir; you must take command now."
+
+"Men do not obey a commander well if they cannot see him," said the
+lieutenant, smiling.  "Ah, Roylance!" he continued, as that individual
+came to the door of the tent; "I'm telling Mr Belton he must go on as
+he has begun.  I'm getting better, you see, only I shall have to be
+nursed for weeks.  As soon as I am a little stronger you must have me
+carried down to the rocks, and I'll catch fish for you all."
+
+"No, sir, you will not," said Roylance, laughing, "unless you want to be
+pulled in; the fish are terribly strong sometimes.  Has Belton told you
+everything about how we stand?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"About the water?"
+
+Sydney hesitated.
+
+"I did not mention the water," he said at last.
+
+"Then you have found no water?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"And the supply is giving out?"
+
+"Almost gone, sir."
+
+The lieutenant was silent for a few moments.
+
+"It cannot be long before the _Sirius_ returns.  Of course Captain
+Belton put out to sea.  It would have been madness to have stopped in
+these reef-bound channels.  Had you not better call the men together,
+and thoroughly search all the crannies among the rocks for a spring, Mr
+Belton?"
+
+"Already done, sir, twice."
+
+"Yes, of course; you would be sure to do that.  Then there is only one
+thing to do; we must wait patiently for help.  Had we been provided with
+a boat, of course we could have searched for water on the nearest
+island.  But keep a good heart; the _Sirius_ cannot be long."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR.
+
+But the time seemed terribly tedious upon that parched rock, where not a
+single green thing grew.  The heat was terrific, and the men sat and lay
+about panting, and glad of the relief afforded by the tobacco they
+chewed.  It was impossible to hide the fact from them that they were
+using the last drops of the water; but there were no murmurs, not a
+mutinous voice was heard against the tiny portion that was served out so
+as to make what was left last for another forty-eight hours.  After
+that?
+
+Yes; no one dared try to answer that question.  A man was always on the
+watch by the flagstaff.  But he swept the offing with the glass in vain.
+There was no ship in sight that could be signalled for help, and no
+sign of movement in the direction of the town.
+
+"It's seems horribly lowering to one's dignity," said Roylance, "coming
+here to occupy a rock and set the enemy at defiance, and then be
+regularly obliged to give up and say, `Take us prisoners, please,' all
+for want of a drop of water."
+
+"If it would only rain!" cried Syd, as he thought of how bitter all this
+would be to his father.
+
+"Never will when you want it."
+
+"It is degrading," said Syd.  "But we must wait.  What does Terry say?"
+
+"Nothing.  He has taken to chewing tobacco like the men, and I don't
+want to be hard upon him, but he seems on the whole to be pleased that
+we are in such a scrape."
+
+"But you are too hard on him," said Syd.  "There, let's go and sit with
+poor Mr Dallas.  We must keep him in good spirits."
+
+"I haven't the heart to go," said Roylance, sadly.  "He is suffering
+horribly from the want of a drop of cold water, and we have none to give
+him."
+
+The long day dragged by, and was succeeded by a hot and pulseless night.
+The last drop of water had been voted by common consent to the sick
+man, and the sailors were face to face with the difficulty of passing
+the next day.  It would be maddening, they knew, without water on that
+heated rock.  They had tried to quench their thirst by drawing buckets
+of water down on the natural pier and drenching each other, for they
+dare not bathe on account of the sharks; but that was a poor solace, and
+the poor fellows gazed at each other with parched lips and wild eyes,
+asking help and advice in vain, and without orders climbed up high and
+perched themselves on points of vantage to watch for a sail, the only
+hope of salvation from a maddening death that they could see.
+
+The look-out man by the flagstaff was ready with the bunting for
+signals; and when he hauled it, all knew now that it would be no
+flaunting forth of defiance, but an appeal for aid.  But no ship came in
+sight all that next long day.
+
+"It's all over, Belt," said Roylance, as the sun rose high once more,
+and his voice sounded harsh and strange.  "I shall die to-day raving
+mad.  We must go, but let's write something to your father to find when
+he does come."
+
+"I have done it," said Sydney.  "I wrote it last night before I turned
+so queer and half mad-like with this horrible thirst."
+
+"Did you turn half mad?"
+
+"Yes, when I was alone after I had done it.--I told my father that we
+had all tried to do our duty, and had fought to the last; and said
+good-bye."
+
+"Where did you put it?" said Roylance, as they walked slowly to the
+upper gun, while Terry lay beneath a rock seeming to watch them.
+
+"Put what?" said Sydney, vacantly.
+
+"The letter to your father."
+
+"What letter to my father?  Has Uncle Tom written to him?"
+
+"Belt, old fellow, hold up," cried Roylance, half frantically.  "Don't
+you give way."
+
+"Oh, I did feel so stupid," said Syd, with a loud harsh laugh.  "Said I
+wouldn't go to sea, and ran away, and then came sneaking back with my
+tail between my legs.  Oh, there's Barney."
+
+"No, no, my dear fellow; there's no one here."
+
+"Yes, there is," cried Syd, angrily, as he stared with bloodshot eyes
+straight before him.  "Barney, what does the dad say?  Is he very
+cross?"
+
+"Oh, Belt; don't, don't," groaned Roylance.--"I must get him under
+shelter."
+
+He took his friend's arm.
+
+"No, no, you shan't," cried Sydney.  "I won't be dragged in before them.
+I'll go in straight when I do go, and say I was wrong.  Touch me again,
+Barney, and I'll hit you."
+
+"It is I, Belt.  Don't you know me?"
+
+"Know you?--of course.  What made you say that?"
+
+"I--I don't know."
+
+"Roy, poor fellow, you are suffering from the heat.  There's no ship in
+sight, but you and I mustn't give up; we must set an example to the
+men.--No, no, Barney, I tell you I will not go."
+
+"Terry, Mike Terry, come and help me," cried Roylance; but the
+midshipman did not stir from where he lay under a shadowing rock.
+
+"Not for a hundred of you I would not go.  Eh!  Water--where?  Ah,
+beautiful water!  Can't you hear it splashing?  Plenty to-night.  Rain."
+
+"Come into the shade, Belt," said Roylance, who felt now that their last
+day had come, and that there was nothing to be done now but lie down and
+die.
+
+"No," said Syd, sharply, "I want to see the men.  How are the poor
+fellows?"
+
+He staggered down to where the men not on duty were lying in the shade
+cast by the rocks, and the boatswain, who seemed to have been talking to
+them, rose.
+
+"Sad work, sir," he said, touching his hat; and several of the men rose
+and saluted, others lying staring and helpless, their lips black, and a
+horrible delirious look in their eyes.
+
+"No ship, Barney," whispered Syd, huskily.
+
+"No, sir.  We must give it up, sir, like men; but it do seem hard work.
+Seen my boy Pan-y-mar?"
+
+"On board, on board," said Syd quickly.
+
+"What, sir?"
+
+"I did not speak," cried the boy, shaking his head, and Roylance and the
+boatswain exchanged glances.
+
+"Yes, yes, I spoke--you spoke," said Syd, strangely.  "I know now, but
+my brain feels hot and dry, and I can't breathe.  Yes.  Pan.  He's with
+Mr Dallas in the hut."
+
+The boy sank down on a stone, and placed his elbows upon his knees to
+make a resting-place for his head.
+
+"Poor lad!  Oh, Mr Roylance, sir, I'd give my last drop o' blood if I
+could save him."
+
+Syd started up and then looked round wildly, as he made a desperate
+effort to ward off the delirium that was attacking him.
+
+"Keep in the shade, my lads," he said.  "Please God we shall get rain
+to-night, or help will come."
+
+The men stared at him in stupid silence, all but Rogers, who feebly
+hacked off a bit of a cake of tobacco, and struggled up to offer it.
+
+"Take a bit, sir.  Keeps you from feeling quite so bad."
+
+"No, my man," said Syd, smiling feebly, "keep it for yourself."
+
+Then turning to Roylance, he looked at him wonderingly.
+
+"Did I dream you said something about writing?"
+
+"No.  You told me you had written a despatch."
+
+"No.  No: I wrote nothing," said the boy, vacantly.  "It ought to be
+done, to say that we held out to the last."
+
+"My father will see that," said Syd, gravely.  "Amen!" cried the
+boatswain, in his deep hoarse voice, and he drew back, and then
+staggered forward to drop down for a few moments.  He rose again.
+
+"Worst o' being an orficer, Mr Roylance, sir," he said.  "Don't matter
+what happens we mustn't give way."
+
+How that day glided on none could tell.  It was like some horrible
+dream, during which the sun had never been hotter to them, and the rock
+seemed to glow.  Three times now in a half delirious way Syd had been
+into the hut, to find Mr Dallas sleeping, for though he suffered
+terribly, his pangs did not seem so bad as those of his stronger
+companions in adversity.
+
+But at last Syd passed Terry lying with his eyes closed; and with
+Roylance staggering after him almost as wild and delirious as he, they
+paused by the hut where Mr Dallas lay.  Syd passed his hand over his
+eyes to clear away the mist which hung before him and obscured his
+sight, and then, fairly sane for the moment, he looked about him to see
+that every man was prostrate, and that his faithful henchman, Barney
+Strake, was leaning against a rock, helpless now.
+
+He saw it all; it meant the end.  Had there been a cool, moist night
+even to look forward to, they might have lived till another day, but
+there were many hours of pitiless sunshine yet in the hottest time when
+the glare was right along the gap.
+
+"It is the end," he said, half-aloud.  "Roy, lad, I should like to shake
+hands first with Terry."
+
+He took a step or two toward where the midshipman lay, but had to snatch
+at the rock to save himself, and he gave up with a groan.
+
+"I do it in my heart," he said.  "Come and bid Mr Dallas good-bye."
+
+"Are--are we dying, Belt?" whispered Roylance, and his voice sounded
+very strange.
+
+"Yes; it can't be long.  But I hope we shall go to sleep first and wake
+no more."
+
+He staggered in at the open doorway, for the canvas had been drawn
+aside, and stood gazing down at the lieutenant, who feebly raised his
+hand.
+
+Roylance remained there, leaning against the rough entrance, and on a
+case sat Pan, with his head resting against the wall and his eyes
+half-closed.
+
+That grip of the hand was all that passed, save a long, earnest look of
+the eyes, and an hour must have passed over them in the almost
+insupportable heat.  There was not a breath of air, and the poor fellows
+felt as if they were being literally scorched up, and that before long
+it would be impossible to breathe.
+
+They had silently said good-bye, and Syd sat now on the floor with his
+hand in Mr Dallas's, thinking of his father, and of how he would come
+some time and find him lying there dead, and know by the work about that
+he had done his duty.
+
+"And poor Uncle Tom," he said to himself.  "How sorry he will be!  I
+liked Uncle Tom."
+
+Then there was a wave of delirium passed over, in which as in a dream he
+saw sparkling waters and bright rivers dancing in the sunshine, and all
+was happiness and joy, till he started into wakefulness once more at a
+low groan from Roylance, who lay close beside him.
+
+The hideous truth was there: they were all dying of thirst, and Syd's
+last thought seemed to be that he had forgotten to ask help from above
+till it was too late, and he could not form the words.
+
+It was but a half delirious fancy, for he had prayed long and earnestly.
+But the idea grew strong now, and he tried to repeat the Lord's prayer
+aloud.
+
+No word came but to himself, and he went on sinking fast into
+unconsciousness till he came to "Give us this day--"
+
+He started up, for something seemed to strike him, and he gazed wildly
+at the boy Pan, who had fallen from where he sat upon the box, and now
+struggled to his knees.
+
+"Water!" he gasped--"so thirsty.  Master Syd--water--water--I know where
+there's lots o' water--lots!"
+
+He literally shrieked the words, and some one who had been leaning
+against the entrance stumbled in, electrified with strength as it were,
+as he shouted hoarsely--
+
+"Water, my boy, water; where?"
+
+Pan gazed about him wildly in the delirium that had attacked him in
+turn, and did not seem to understand.
+
+The straw of hope that had been held out faded away again, and a mist
+came back over Syd's eyes till he heard Strake's voice, as he shook his
+son, shouting--
+
+"Water, d'yer hear, Pan? to save us all."
+
+"Water," said the boy, hoarsely; "water.  Yes, I know," he yelled.  "I
+used to get lots--down there."
+
+"Where--where, boy?" cried the boatswain, wildly.
+
+"Down--where--I hid--father," he whispered.  "Big hole--cave in the
+rocks.  Plenty--water--give--water."
+
+He lurched over to the left, and lay insensible upon the floor.
+
+If it was true!  The last hope gone unless the boy could be revived
+sufficiently to guide them to the spot.
+
+"He was mad," said the boatswain, slowly; and he looked wildly round
+with his bloodshot eyes.
+
+But the boy's words had brought hope and a temporary strength to Syd,
+who pressed his head with his hands and tried to think.
+
+"Would a bucket of sea-water revive him to make him tell us, Strake?" he
+croaked, more than spoke.
+
+"No, no, no; good-bye.  It's all a dream."
+
+"It is not," cried Syd, wildly.  "I know--the place.  Heaven, give us
+strength.  I know it now."
+
+"You're mad, sir, mad," groaned the boatswain.
+
+"No, Barney, do.  Help, come.  Water--I know--I can find it now."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE.
+
+It seemed too late as Syd rose to his feet, tottered to the looped-back
+opening of the hut, and crawled out with his eyes starting, his dry
+mouth open, and every breath drawn with a wheezing, harsh sound that was
+horrible to hear.
+
+Before he had gone far down the slope toward where the men were lying
+beneath the rock, and the rope-ladder hung over the rocky wall below the
+lower gun, he stopped short panting, with the sinking sun scorching his
+brain and everything swimming round.  He looked backward, and had some
+idea that the boatswain was crawling after him, bringing a vessel that
+rattled on the loose stones as he came.
+
+But Syd could think of but one thing as he made his way toward the
+rope-ladder, and that one thing was the fluid which should give them all
+back their life.  He crawled on slowly and painfully, and then a black
+cloud came over his brain, and everything was gone for the time.
+
+Then the recollection came back, and he knew why he was there.  Water--
+he knew where there was water if he could keep on recollecting till he
+reached the place.  And could he reach it?  His hands and arms gave way,
+and he lay prone, sobbing hoarsely in his misery and despair.  There was
+water, plenty of water, if he could reach it--if his mind would only
+hold out, and his strength last till he had taken one long deep draught
+of the cool, sweet drink.  And he could reach it and bury his face in
+the gushing flood, he could save everybody who lay dying there.  But he
+could go no farther, only lie down moaning on that hot rock.
+
+"Master Syd!--the water--where?"
+
+There was a hot breath upon his face, a great hand was grasping his arm,
+and he turned to look wildly at the boatswain, and tried to speak, but
+there was only a harsh inarticulate sound from his parched throat.
+
+"Master Syd.  Where--the water?"
+
+He tried again, but no words would come.  The few minutes lying there,
+though, had given him strength to crawl on again till he was abreast of
+the men, only one of whom close by unclosed his wild eyes to stare at
+the couple crawling toward the edge of the rock wall.
+
+Syd stopped again panting, and once more all seemed over, for the black
+cloud had settled down over his understanding; and though he could see
+the men lying only partly in shadow now, for the sinking sun was
+scorching them, he did not know why he had struggled so far till the hot
+breath was upon his cheek again, and the harsh high-pitched voice
+cried--
+
+"Master Syd!--water--where?--the water?"
+
+"Water!"
+
+It was another voice uttered that word, and without knowing how or why,
+Syd was aware that the young sailor who had been so much mixed up with
+his adventures--Rogers--was gripping his hand.  Syd stared at him wildly
+as with a fierce harsh cry the man tore at him as if he were holding the
+precious fluid back.  A hoarse groan escaped from Syd's throat, and he
+struggled hard to think of what it all meant, while the mental confusion
+and insensibility grew upon him as he lay face downward on the burning
+rock, staring at that imaginary black cloud.
+
+"Water--water!"  Who said water?  It was not Strake, but this wild-eyed,
+fierce man, whose fingers were pressed into his arm.
+
+Yes, he knew that now, and the burning sun shone through the black cloud
+again.  Water--yes, he had come to get the water, and he began once more
+to crawl on toward the rope-ladder below the gun, with the boatswain and
+Rogers hunting him, and nearly as feeble as he, pursuing him with their
+harsh repetition of that one word--_water_!
+
+At last close to the edge of the rocky platform with the gun above him
+on his right, straight before and below him the rope-ladder fixed to a
+great mass of rock, and down there the natural pier, with the beautiful
+clear blue sea flooding it, and looking so calm and tempting.  If he
+could reach that and lie and let the waves flow over him, how pleasant
+and refreshing it would be!  No more pain or suffering, only rest and
+sleep.
+
+He felt a thrill of horror run through him like a spasm of pain, and he
+shrank away, for there above the clear water was gliding the triangular
+back fin of a shark--two--three, and one monster's long, black, rounded
+muzzle rose up; the creature curved over and dived down under one of its
+fellows, showing its soft white under-parts, and telling the miserable
+being on the rock above that it was no peaceful sleep he would find
+there, but an end of unutterable horror.
+
+That spasm of dread seemed to clear Syd's mind for the moment, as he
+drew himself back a little just as Strake gripped his shoulder again,
+and Rogers uttered the one word in a harsh snarl--
+
+"Water!"
+
+For the moment Syd's head was clear, and he knew why he was there.  His
+lips parted to speak, but only a harsh sound came, and the black cloud
+began to loom over him.  But he had the momentary strength which enabled
+him to fight it back, and raising his left arm he pointed along the
+ridge of tumbled rocks full of rifts and hollows toward where on the day
+of the accident he had been struggling back, when Rogers had climbed up
+to his side.
+
+"Water!" gasped the man, showing his teeth like some savage beast, and
+his eyes glared wild and bloodshot at his young officer.
+
+Again Syd tried to speak, but only that harsh sound came; and he pointed
+still at the rugged backbone of the islet which ran from the natural
+citadel, and descended slowly toward the far end by the sea.  The young
+sailor stared back, then turned his head in the direction pointed, but
+no answering look of intelligence came.  But Syd's finger still pointed,
+and the man turned his head and stared again.
+
+"Water!" he snarled; "dying--water."
+
+The hand was still extended toward the furrowed ridge with its chaos of
+tumbled rocks; and after gazing in the direction once more, the man
+uttered a harsh groan, and crawled to the very edge of the rocky
+platform, lowered himself over as he clung to the rope-ladder, and would
+have fallen headlong had not his hands been cramped now so that the
+fingers were hooked, and he descended half-way before his strength
+failed, and he fell ten or a dozen feet, rolled over, and struck against
+one of the two buckets that lay there close up, as the men had left them
+after dipping for sea-water to bathe with, as they could not venture in.
+
+Rogers lay there for a few minutes half-stunned, and with his brow cut,
+and bleeding freely.  Then he rose to his hands and knees to begin
+climbing up to the left, while Syd and Strake, with hot staring eyes,
+watched him as he went up slowly and painfully foot by foot.
+
+What for?  Syd found himself thinking.  Was it to fight back that black
+cloud of confusion which would keep coming and going, as now clearly,
+now as through a mist, he could see the young sailor climb and crawl
+higher and higher, and further away; now he was behind some great rock,
+now he was in sight again; now he descended into one of the crevices of
+the slope which looked red-hot in the glow of the setting sun.  Then
+there came a blank, of how long Syd could not tell, for the black cloud
+was over him.  But his eyes opened wildly again, and he saw that Rogers
+was somewhere close by the edge of the great rift where he had stood and
+listened, and then it seemed that the man had fallen, for he disappeared
+suddenly, and Strake uttered a low harsh groan.
+
+Was it a dream, or was it really the young sailor coming back?  He could
+not tell; he did not even know that the hoarse, harsh, rattling sound
+came from the boatswain who lay by his side; but in an indistinct way he
+saw the man coming down quickly till he was where the two buckets stood,
+and he shouted something to him whose sound fell like a blow upon his
+brain.
+
+All was blank again, and he saw no more till hands were touching him,
+and he felt himself lifted up till his chest was reaching over the edge
+of something hard, and directly after there was cold delicious water at
+his lips, water that he tried to drink, but which only entered by his
+nostrils, and he gasped and choked, as it seemed suddenly to have turned
+to boiling lead.
+
+But the water was at his lips again, and this time, though it was almost
+agony, he drew in one great draught of the cool, sweet fluid, and then
+felt himself lifted and thrown roughly aside, to lie panting on the
+rock, and watching, with his senses returning fast, the acts of the man
+by him, who was bending over Strake, where the boatswain lay staring,
+and with his black lips apart, apparently dead.
+
+The man was Rogers--he recognised him now--and he saw him dip one
+hollowed hand into the bucket and let the water he scooped out trickle
+slowly between the boatswain's parted lips.  Then he stopped quickly,
+and took a quick deep draught himself--a draught which gave him strength
+to go on trickling more of the fluid between the apparently dead man's
+lips before turning to Sydney.
+
+"I'll help you, sir," he whispered, faintly.  "Drink again."
+
+Hah!  Water, delicious cold pure water; a long deep draught that sent
+life fluttering through Syd's veins once more, and he half lay there,
+watching as some more water was trickled between the boatswain's lips.
+
+"I spilt--a lot," said Rogers.  "More down there."
+
+The power to act came back to Syd with his senses, and he loosened the
+handkerchief the boatswain wore from about his neck, plunged it into the
+bucket, and drew it out full of water to hold over Strake's mouth, and
+let the water drip down as the poor fellow kept on making spasmodic,
+choking efforts to swallow.
+
+There was an intense desire on Syd's part to drink again, but he could
+think now, and he pointed up the gap toward the hut, where he knew that
+his brother officers and the boy lay dying.
+
+"Can you carry this up--to them?" whispered Rogers.  "I'll go down and
+get the rest.  There's quarter of a bucketful below here."
+
+Syd nodded.
+
+"I'll try and get it up.  Give him some more, and take the rest to my
+mates."
+
+Syd looked his assent and tried to get up, but fell down.  His second
+effort was more successful, and he took the bucket, which contained
+nearly a quart of water, and reeled and staggered up the gap, past the
+men who lay apparently dead to his right, and then on with his strength
+returning, and with an intense desire to kneel down and drink the
+precious fluid to the last drop.
+
+It was a hard fight, but he conquered, and staggered on to where the
+opening into the hut gaped before him, ruddy in the last rays of the
+setting sun.
+
+Were the inmates dead, and was he bringing that which would have saved
+them, too late?
+
+He tottered in and he shuddered as he gazed at their wildly distorted
+faces.  Dallas lay gazing up, and Roylance was on the left, perfectly
+motionless, but Pan was lying on his back, rolling his head slowly from
+side to side.
+
+There was a tin pannikin, the one that had held the last drops of the
+water, on the floor close to the case which had served as a table, and
+as Syd stooped to reach it, a horrible dizziness seized him, and he
+nearly fell and scattered the precious burden.
+
+But he saved himself by snatching at the stone wall, and brought down
+one of the little blocks of which it was composed.  Then dipping about a
+tablespoonful of the water with the pannikin, he let a few drops fall in
+Roylance's mouth, then in the lieutenant's, and lastly in Pan's, and as
+the water was absorbed, for neither seemed to have the power to swallow,
+he repeated this twice, his own powers returning more and more, and
+bringing that intense desire to drink in a way that was terrible.
+
+But he controlled it successfully, and went on giving a few drops of the
+precious life, as it were, to each, and setting his heart throbbing and
+a hysterical feeling rising in his throat, as he found that he was not
+too late.
+
+He wanted to drink the last drops himself, then he wanted to sit on the
+floor and weep and sob like a child.  Then he felt that he must cry out
+and yell and kick like a mad creature, and all these desires had to be
+fought down, so that he could go on now trickling slowly the cold water
+between the white and blackened lips, over which he passed his wet
+finger from time to time, jealously careful lest a drop should be lost,
+till the whole quart was gone, and the last drop drained from the bucket
+into the tin.
+
+"More, more!" panted Syd, as he looked wildly from one to the other of
+the sufferers, whom he found making spasmodic efforts to swallow, and
+taking pannikin and bucket, he went feebly out and down the gap to where
+he had left Rogers and Strake.
+
+The sun had gone down and the short twilight would soon be passed.  They
+must get more water before it was too dark.
+
+"No," he thought, "it can never be too dark for that;" and he went on to
+find Rogers bending over Strake.
+
+"That's the last drop, sir," said the young sailor.  "I've give all of
+it to 'em."
+
+"And will they all live?" faltered Syd.
+
+"Dunno yet, sir.  It was a near toucher.  Now you stop with him, and
+I'll get some more.--No," he added; "I can't go without a light."
+
+"How did you find it?  I could not tell you where to look."
+
+"Don't quite know, sir.  I was off my head.  But I recollect you pynted,
+and I climbed up and up to where I found you t'other day, and then I
+tumbled, 'most cut to pieces with they rocks.  And when I tried to get
+up I could hear the water gurgling, and went mad to get to it and drink
+it.  Look here, sir--no: feel, sir; wet through with slipping in.  But,
+oh!"
+
+He drew a long deep breath, and then caught up the bucket.
+
+"Let's go and drink as long as we can, sir; but we shall want the
+lanthorn now."
+
+It was quite true, for the darkness which falls so rapidly in the
+tropics was quickly coming in.
+
+"Didn't think I was going to do this no more, sir," said Rogers, as the
+pair struggled up to the quarters, and with trembling hands managed to
+strike a light and set the lanthorn candle burning.
+
+"Quick!" whispered Syd, as there came a low moaning from the hospital.
+"If I go in they'll be expecting water."
+
+"Which they shall have, sir, before long," replied the sailor, and going
+back down the gap, they picked up the buckets, Syd stopping to speak to
+Strake.
+
+"Yes, sir; coming round, sir, I think," he said, hoarsely.  "Is there a
+drop more water?"
+
+"There'll be plenty soon.  Only wait."
+
+"Now, sir, you take the lanthorn; I'll take the buckets.  Lor', how
+swimmy I do feel.  Not from having so much water, is it?"
+
+The man's words jarred on Syd.  They sounded so careless from one who
+but a short time back was dying.  But with a sailor, as soon as the
+danger is past, he is careless again, and the man was all eagerness now
+to help his messmates.
+
+Syd did not find it easy to descend the rope-ladder, but he got down in
+safety, and then the difficult ascent of the rocks began.
+
+It was now dark, and he trembled lest they should miss their way and be
+wandering about for hours, while the poor creatures they had left were
+still in agony.
+
+But after one or two false slips they hit upon the right gap, as they
+thought, and were about to descend when Syd stopped short.
+
+"This can't be the place," he said; "I don't hear the water gurgling."
+
+"That's what I've been thinking, sir," said Rogers.  "Let's try again."
+
+Weak and weary as he was, Syd's heart sank, but their next attempt was
+successful, the faint sound of water trickling far below acting as their
+guide, and they found the place, descended carefully, not seeing their
+danger, to where the water gurgled musically from the rock into a little
+pool some five feet long.
+
+Here both drank long and deeply of the delicious draught, after filling
+their buckets, finding it no easy task to climb back with them to where
+they stood in the bright, clear star-shine, and begin their journey back
+down to the bottom of the rope-ladder, where Rogers set down his pail,
+climbed up, lowered down a rope, and hauled both the buckets up without
+spilling a drop.  Then while he attended to the men with one, Syd
+hurried up to the little hospital with the other, to find his patients
+sufficiently recovered to drink with avidity as much water as he would
+let them have.
+
+There was no sleep that night, but many a prayer of thankfulness was
+sent up from the darkness of that black gap toward where, in all their
+tropic splendour, the great stars twinkled brightly.
+
+"And we shall see the light of another day," said Syd, aloud, "and--
+Roylance--Roy, are you awake?"
+
+"Yes.  I was listening to what you said."
+
+"We've forgotten poor Terry."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY SIX.
+
+It was a false alarm, for Terry had been tended by Rogers, and seemed
+one of the strongest of the party that sat eating their morning meal a
+few hours later.
+
+But an enemy would have found an easy capture of the place that day had
+he come; though, as there really was no illness, the recuperation was
+rapid enough, and all congratulated themselves on the find.
+
+"It warn't nice while it lasted, but you see it was an eggsperens like,
+sir," said Strake; "only what puzzles me is, why you and Pan-y-mar
+didn't think of the water afore."
+
+"I was thinking about it all night, Strake," said Syd, "and it was as
+great a puzzle to me.  I heard the gurgling of water that day when Mr
+Dallas was hurt, and thought it must be the sea coming in through some
+crack, and I never thought of it again till I felt that I was dying.
+Then it came like a flash."
+
+"Dying!  Lor' now, we warn't dying," said the boatswain cheerily.  "But
+thirsty I will say though, as I never was so thirsty afore.  I've been
+hungry, and had to live for a week on one biscuit and the wriggling
+things as was at the bottom of a cask, but that's heavenly to going
+without your 'lowance o' water."
+
+"Don't talk about it," said Syd; "it was a horrible experience."
+
+"Well, come, sir, I like that," growled Strake, who soon seemed quite
+himself again; "it was you begun it, not me."
+
+"I?" cried Syd, angrily; "why, didn't you come to me, sir, and say that
+you always thought as long as a man had a biscuit and plenty of rum he
+could do without water?"
+
+"Why, so I did, Master Syd, sir.  Of course I'd forgotten it.  Got so
+wishy-washy with so much water, that I can't think quite clear again
+yet."
+
+"Never mind; you know better about the rum now."
+
+"Yes, sir; and if I gets back home again well and hearty, you know,
+there's a good cellar under the cottage at home."
+
+"Yes, of course, I know.  What of that?"
+
+"Well, sir, I'm going to set Pan-y-mar to work--his fin 'll be strong
+long afore then--to wash all the empty wine-bottles I can find up at the
+house, and I'm goin' to fill 'em at the pump, cork 'em up, and lay 'em
+down in the cellar same as the captain does his port wine."
+
+"And give up rum altogether?"
+
+"Give?  Up?  Well, no, sir; I dunno as I could quite do that."
+
+"Never mind talking about it, then," said Syd; "but as soon as the men
+are well enough, let's have all the water-casks well-filled."
+
+"Beg pardon, sir."
+
+"Well, what?"
+
+"Water's lovely and sweet and cool where it is; wouldn't it be better to
+have it fetched twice a day as we want it?"
+
+"Yes, Strake," said Syd, "if you are quite sure that no enemy will come
+and try to oust us.  Suppose they land, and we are shut up here; are we
+to go on suffering for want of water again?"
+
+The boatswain hit himself a tremendous blow on his chest with his
+doubled fist.
+
+"Think o' that now, sir.  Must be the water.  Head's as wishy-washy as
+can be.  Sort o' water on the brain kind o' feeling, sir."
+
+"We'll have the casks all filled and stored in that cave near the
+powder, and be secure from it, but have the water for use fetched twice
+a day from the spring."
+
+"O' course, Master Syd, sir.  Never struck me till this instant.  Well,
+I'm proud o' you, sir, I am indeed, and it's a comfort to me now as I
+did have something to do with teaching of you."
+
+"What's that mean?  What does Rogers want?"
+
+"Dunno, sir.  Caught a big 'un, I s'pose, or lost his line.  You give
+him leave to fish, didn't you?"
+
+"Yes.--Well, Rogers, what is it?  Got any fish?"
+
+"Lots, sir.  But here's a big boat, sir, close in; floating upside
+down."
+
+"Boat?" cried Strake.  "Ay, ay, my lad; that means firewood for the
+hauling up; soon dry on the rocks."
+
+The news brought Roylance from Mr Dallas's quarters, and Terry hurried
+down, the little party finding that the current had brought a
+water-logged boat as big as a small schooner close in to the rock, by
+which it was slowly floating some forty yards away.
+
+"If we could only get a rope made fast on board," cried Syd, excitedly,
+as he gazed at the swept decks, and masts broken off quite short.
+
+"I'll swim off with a line, sir," said Rogers.
+
+"Ugh! sharks!" ejaculated Roylance.
+
+"I could swim off with a line and make it fast," began Syd.
+
+"Do, then, Belton," said Terry, eagerly; "the boat would keep us in
+firewood for long enough."
+
+"But I should be afraid of the sharks, and should not like to let a man
+do what I would not do myself."
+
+"P'r'aps there are no sharks here now," said Terry, with an aggravating
+smile, which seemed to say, "you're afraid."
+
+"I'm not going to risk it," said Syd, quietly, "badly as we want the
+wood."
+
+"But that little vessel may be valuable," said Terry, "and mean
+prize-money for the men."
+
+"I don't think the men would care for prize-money bought with the life
+of their captain's son," said Syd, coldly.
+
+"I wouldn't for one," muttered Rogers, as a murmur ran round the group
+of watching men.
+
+"Pish!" said Terry, with a merry laugh.
+
+"Why don't you try it, Mr Terry?" said Roylance.
+
+"Because I should order him not to go, and would not allow it, Mr
+Roylance," said Syd, firmly.
+
+"Brayvo, young game-cock!" muttered Strake, who was busy with a line.
+"My, what a orficer I shall make o' him."
+
+"It would be too dangerous a job for any man to attempt.  The sea swarms
+round the rock with hungry fish, and I don't mind saying I should be
+just as much afraid to go as I should be to let one of my men go."
+
+"There, sir, I think this here 'll do it," said Strake, coming forward
+with a ring of line and a marlin-spike tied across at the end.  "If
+you'll give leave for me to go with half a dozen o' the men along
+yonder, we may be able to hook her as she comes along."
+
+"Come along, then," said Syd.  "But will not that marlin-spike slip
+out?"
+
+"That's just what I'm afraid on, sir.  Ought to be a little tiny grapnel
+as would hold on, but this is the best I can think on."
+
+The party climbed along the rocks, which formed a perpendicular wall
+from thirty to forty feet high, till they were some twenty yards beyond
+the derelict.  Place was given to the boatswain, who had the line laid
+out in coils, and while he waited he carefully added to the stability of
+the marlin-spike with some spun-yarn.
+
+And all this time, rising and falling, the water-logged boat came on,
+the current drawing it in till it was only some thirty yards away from
+the cliff where they stood, and the men whispered together as to the
+possibility of the boatswain throwing so far.  At last she was nearly
+opposite.
+
+"Stand by," growled the boatswain, gruffly.  "Hold on to the end o' that
+line, Rogers, my lad, and stick to it if there comes a tug; then tighten
+easily, for we've got to check her way if my grappling-iron does take
+hold."
+
+"Stand clear all," said Syd, as the old man made the marlin-spike spin
+round like a Catherine wheel at the end of three feet of the line.  The
+speed increased till it produced a whizzing sound; then, letting it go,
+away it flew seaward right over the derelict, and the men gave a cheer.
+
+"Well done, Strake," cried Syd, making a snatch at the line.
+
+"Nay, nay, sir," whispered the old man; "you're skipper here; let me do
+this."
+
+"Yes; go on," said Syd, colouring at his boyish impetuosity, as he
+resigned the line to the boatswain's hands.  "Haul steadily! that's the
+way.  Now, then, will it hold?"
+
+There was another cheer, for, as the rope was drawn upon, the
+marlin-spike caught somewhere on the far side among the broken stays of
+the foremast.
+
+But the wreck was not secured yet.  It was gliding along slowly with the
+tide, but with great force, while it required a great deal of humouring
+and easing off to succeed for fear that the hold should break away.  The
+consequence was that the men who held on by the rope had to follow the
+little vessel for some distance before it began to yield, and then they
+towed it slowly and steadily along.  No easy task, for the towing-path
+was one continuous climb, and the men had to pass the line on from one
+party to the other.
+
+But they towed away till the spot was reached whence the line had been
+thrown, and now that the boat was well in motion, the task grew more and
+more easy.
+
+"Steady, there, steady!" growled the boatswain.  "You arn't got hold of
+a nine-inch cable, and it arn't hard and fast to the capstan.  Steady,
+lads."
+
+For the men were getting excited, and were stamping away.  They calmed
+down though, and towed on and on till Syd began to give his orders,
+looking hard at Strake the while, as if to ask if he was doing right.
+
+"You, Rogers, have a line ready and jump aboard as she comes close in by
+the pier.  Make it fast round the stump of the bowsprit."
+
+"Nay, nay, sir," growled Strake; "take a turn or two round the foremas',
+my lad, run the rope out through the hawse-hole, and then chuck it
+ashore here."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir," shouted Rogers, picking up one of the rings of rope they
+had ready, and throwing it over his shoulder, as he stood barefooted on
+the rock.
+
+"Don't jump till you are quite sure, Rogers," cried Syd, "and 'ware
+sharks."
+
+The men laughed, the little vessel came nearer and nearer, and the
+excitement increased; when all at once, just as she was within a dozen
+feet of the rocks where the officers stood and the men were hauling
+steadily away, there was a yell of disappointment; the marlin-spike came
+away, bringing with it some tow and tarry rope, and the prize stopped,
+yielded to the pressure of the current, and began to glide away again.
+
+"Never mind, sir, I'll make another cast," cried Strake, gathering in
+the line; but before he had got in many feet there was a splash, a quick
+scattering of the water, and after rapidly making a few strokes,
+Roylance was seen to climb over the side of the little vessel, which was
+nearly flush with the water.
+
+As he did so there was a shriek of horror, for a couple of sharks,
+excited by the sight of prey standing so near the edge of the waves that
+ran over the natural pier, made a swoop down upon the young officer, who
+in his hurry and excitement let loose the ring of rope he had snatched
+from Rogers, and it was seen to descend through the clear water.
+
+"Why, he has no rope!  He'll be carried away with the boat.  Jump back
+now; never mind the sharks."
+
+"Stay where you are," cried Syd, as loudly as he could call out above
+the hurry and excitement.  "Now, Strake, quick!"
+
+The boatswain was being quick, but it was hard work to get the line free
+from the tangle that it had dragged ashore.  There was no other line
+handy, and it began to seem as if the brave young fellow, who was a
+favourite with all but Terry, would be carried off to sea to a horrible
+lingering death, for all knew that it was impossible for him to swim
+ashore.
+
+"Who told him to go on board?" said Terry, coolly.
+
+"No one," replied Syd, who was now as excited as his companion was calm.
+"It was his own rash idea.  Oh, bo'sun, bo'sun, be smart!"
+
+The boat had drifted some distance, before the old man, who, though
+really quick, seemed to be working with desperate deliberation, was
+ready to gather his line up in rings, and climb along the rocks till he
+was abreast, and could make his cast.
+
+The climb was difficult, as we have seen, and half a score of hands were
+ready to snatch the rings from his hands, and try to go and cast them.
+
+But discipline prevailed.  It was Strake's duty, and he clambered up,
+followed by the men who were to haul; while on the vessel Roylance stood
+with his arms folded, waiting, the water rolling in every now and then
+nearly over his knees, and--horror of horrors!--the two sharks slowly
+gliding round and round the boat, their fins out of the water, and
+evidently waiting for an opportunity to make a dash at the unfortunate
+lad and drag him off.
+
+"Now, now!" was uttered by every one in a low undertone that sounded
+like a groan, as the old boatswain stopped short, raised the ring of
+rope, holding one end tightly in his hand, and cast.
+
+The rings glistened in the sun like a chain as the main part went on,
+and there was a groan of horror, for the end of the last ring fell short
+with a splash in the water.
+
+"He's gone!" muttered Syd.  "Oh, my poor brave, true lad!"
+
+But even as he uttered those words, with sinking heart the boatswain was
+gathering the line up into rings again, with the most calm deliberation,
+climbing along the edge of the cliff as he went, till he was again well
+abreast of the vessel, when he paused to measure the distance he had to
+throw with his eye, for it was farther than it was before.
+
+The line, too, was heavy with its fresh drenching, and a murmur once
+more arose as it seemed to them that the old man was losing confidence,
+and letting the time go by; for though he would be able to follow along
+right to the end of the rock, the line of coast trended in, and the
+current was evidently setting out, and increasing the distance.
+
+"Oh, Strake! throw--throw," whispered Syd, who was close behind.
+
+"Ay, my lad," said the old man, calmly; "it's now or never.  Safety for
+him, or the losing of a good lad as we all loves.  Now, then--with a
+will! stand clear!  Hagh!"
+
+He uttered a peculiar sound, as, after waving the rings of rope well
+above his head, he looked across at Roylance, who stood in a bent
+attitude, close to the side, forgetful of the sharks; and then, with
+everybody wishing the cast God-speed, the rope was thrown.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN.
+
+The excited party burst into a hearty cheer as the rings of wet rope
+flew glistening through the sunshine, and a fresh burst broke forth as
+they saw the outermost deftly caught by Roylance.  But the cheer changed
+to a yell of horror as it was seen that in his effort to cast the line
+far enough, the old boatswain had overbalanced himself and fallen
+headlong down the cliff, which was, fortunately for him, sufficiently
+out of the perpendicular where he fell to enable him to save himself
+here and there by snatching at the rugged blocks of coral, checking his
+fall cleverly enough till, as his companions breathlessly watched, he
+stopped altogether, hanging, almost, on a ledge about six feet above the
+waves, and only keeping himself from going farther by grasping the
+stones.
+
+The intense interest was divided now between Roylance on the slowly
+drifting boat and the boatswain clinging for dear life.
+
+"Who can climb down to him," cried Syd, "before the rope tightens and he
+is dragged off?  Here, I will."
+
+"No, sir; I'll go," said Rogers, eagerly; and without waiting further
+orders he began to lower himself down as actively as a monkey, now
+hanging by his hands and dropping to a ledge below, now climbing
+sidewise to get to a better place before descending again.
+
+"Give the rope a turn round one of the blocks as soon as you get hold of
+it, Rogers," cried Syd.
+
+"Ay, ay, sir."
+
+"Can you hold on, Strake?"
+
+"Ay, my lad, I think I can," growled the boatswain.  "Nuff to make a man
+hold on with them sharks down below."
+
+"The rope--the rope!" shouted Roylance from the derelict boat.
+
+"Yes.  We're trying," cried Syd.  "Here, what are you doing?  Don't
+tighten that; you'll have Strake off the rock."
+
+He yelled this through his hands as he saw Roylance stooping down and
+hauling away at the rope hand over hand.
+
+"Perhaps he knows what he's doing," thought Syd; and he turned his
+attention to the boatswain and the man going to his help.
+
+"Can any other man go down to assist?" he said.  "I'm afraid that Rogers
+will not be able to hold on, and the boat will go."
+
+"You'd better go, Belton," whispered Terry.  "I'll take command here.
+Mustn't lose poor Roylance."
+
+Syd turned upon him sharply, and was about to follow the suggestion,
+when a shout came from Rogers.
+
+"The rope--the rope!"
+
+For a moment or two Syd stood there half-paralysed as he grasped the
+fresh trouble that had come upon them, and saw the explanation of
+Roylance's action.  It was plain enough now: in the boatswain's headlong
+fall he had either loosened his hold of the end of the rope, or retained
+it so loosely, that as he clung to the rock for his life it had dropped
+into the waves, and by the time Syd quite realised what was wrong,
+Roylance had hauled it on board, and was standing with it in his hand,
+fully awake to the peril of his position, and seeing that no help could
+come now from the rock.
+
+Syd's throat felt dry, and a horrible sensation of fear and despair ran
+through him as he stood there motionless watching his friend and
+companion drifting slowly away.  Another minute and his position would
+be hopeless unless some vessel picked him up.  So desperate did it seem
+that Syd felt as if he could do nothing.  Then he was all action once
+more, as he saw what Roylance intended.  His lips parted to cry out
+"Don't! don't!" but he did not utter the words, for it was Roylance's
+only chance; and all on the rock stood with starting eyes watching him
+as he seemed to be examining the rocky wall before him, and they then
+saw him turn his back, bend down, lift a loose coop, bear it to the side
+of the boat furthest from them, raise it on high, and heave it with a
+tremendous splash into the smooth sea.
+
+Before Syd could more than say to himself, "Why did he do that?"
+Roylance was back to his old place, had let himself down softly into the
+water, and was swimming hard for the rock.
+
+"It was to attract the sharks," said a voice behind him, as some one
+else grasped the meaning of the act, and to Syd's intense delight he
+heard a panting sound, and another of the sailors came toiling up with a
+fresh ring of rope which he had been to fetch.
+
+"Can you save Strake, Rogers?" shouted down Syd.
+
+"Ay, ay, sir.  I'll help him all right."
+
+"Come on, then," panted the young midshipman, and setting off he led the
+way, climbing along the edge of the rock so as to get level with
+Roylance, who was rapidly drifting to the end of the rock.
+
+"He is bringing the rope ashore," said Syd to himself, as he saw the end
+in his companion's teeth; and they climbed on, encouraging each other
+with shouts, and steadily progressed; but as they climbed it was in
+momentary expectation of hearing a wild shriek, and seeing Roylance
+throw up his hands, as one of the ravenous monsters dragged him under.
+
+And as they climbed to get level with him, Roylance swam steadily on
+through the clear blue water; and though every eye searched about him
+for a sight of some shark, not one was visible, though the back fins of
+no less than four could be seen gliding about in the neighbourhood of
+the floating hutch on the far side of the boat.
+
+By making almost superhuman efforts the party on the rock managed to get
+abreast of Roylance just as he was half-way between the boat and a patch
+of rugged boulders which had seemed to promise foothold till help could
+reach him from above, and still the brave fellow swam on with the rope
+in his teeth, ring after ring slowly gliding out over the boat's side.
+
+"Now," cried Syd, as he grasped mentally the spot where his companion
+would land.  "A man to go down."
+
+The sailor who had been his other companion on the day when Syd had
+attempted to explore the rock stepped forward, a loop was made in the
+rope, the man threw it over his head, and passed it below his hips.
+
+"Ready," he cried, and he was lowered down over the edge to be ready to
+give Roylance a helping hand, and try to make fast the line the latter
+was bringing ashore.
+
+"Ah!" shrieked Syd, suddenly, for it seemed to him that the end had
+come.  For as he gazed wildly at his messmate, he saw that he was
+swimming with all his might, but making no way.  Worse: he was being
+drawn slowly and surely out to sea, and the reason was plain; the rope
+that should have continued to give over the side had caught somewhere in
+the broken edge of the bulwarks, and all Roylance's risks and efforts
+had been thrown away.
+
+"Let go, and swim for it!" yelled Syd, and Roylance answered by throwing
+up a hand.
+
+"Can you see the sharks?" said Syd, half-aloud.
+
+"No, sir, not yet," said one of the sailors.  "They're cruising about
+the boat."
+
+"Roylance--Roy!  Let go of the rope and swim," cried Syd, in an agony of
+dread.
+
+But the young middy turned on his back, loosened the rope all he could,
+and gave it a shake so as to send a wave along it.  This had no effect,
+for it was too tight, and to the honour of those on the rock they saw
+him deliberately turn and take a stroke or two back toward the boat
+before giving the rope another shake.  This time it had its due effect,
+for the wave ran along the line and shifted it out of the rugged spot
+where it had caught, so that it once more ran out freely as Roylance
+turned to swim for the shore.
+
+"Hist!  Don't make a sound," whispered Syd, as a murmur of horror ran
+through the group on the top of the cliff.
+
+For something had caught the eyes of all at the same moment.  To wit,
+one of the triangular back fins, which had been gliding here and there
+about the coop on the far side of the boat, was seen to be coming round
+her bows, and the next thing seemed to be that the monster would detect
+the position of the midshipman, and then all would be over.  In
+imagination Syd saw the voracious creature gliding rapidly toward
+Roylance, dive down, turn over showing its white under-parts, and then
+there was the blood-stained water, the wild shriek, and disappearance.
+But only in imagination, for as he made an effort all this cleared away
+from his excited brain, and the midshipman was there still swimming
+vigorously, and with a slow steady stroke, toward the rock, towing the
+line.  But there was the shark between him and the boat, quite round on
+his side now.
+
+"Hadn't you better let go?" said Syd, in a voice he did not know for his
+own.
+
+"No," came back rather breathlessly, "there's plenty of line, Belt.  I
+made the other end fast and--can't talk now."
+
+A sudden thought struck Syd.
+
+"I must not say any more," he said to himself; "a word would frighten
+him and make him lose his nerve.  Here, quick!  My lads," he whispered,
+"get some big lumps of rock ready to throw down."
+
+The men scattered, and in less than a minute they were back, and a
+little heap of stones from the size of a man's head downwards were ready
+at the edge of the cliff, where Syd was gazing down fifty feet or so at
+his friend, who still swam on toward where the sailor was waiting, and
+in happy ignorance of the nearness of one of the sharks.  Syd could see
+right down into the clear water whenever the disturbance made by the
+lad's strokes did not ruffle the surface, and his starting eyes were
+plunged down into the depths in search of fresh dangers.
+
+"Oh!" he said to himself, "if he only knew how near that savage beast
+is!  Swim, Roy, swim, lad!  Why don't you let go of the rope and save
+yourself?"
+
+He dare not shout aloud; and though he was high up in safety, he felt
+once more all the agony of horror and fear which had come over him when
+he was himself escaping from a shark, and he shuddered as he heard a
+murmur about him, and the men stood ready each with a great stone.
+
+"Couldn't no one go and help him with a knife?" whispered one of the
+men.  "Oh! look at that."
+
+"Hullo!  Caught again?" cried Roylance, as the rope jerked.
+
+No one replied.  It was as if their mouths were too dry to utter a word,
+for the party on the top of the cliff plainly saw the shark thrust the
+rope up with its muzzle and glide under it.
+
+Just then the horrible secret was out, for the sailor down below at the
+end of the rope shrieked out--
+
+"Swim, sir! swim for it.  One of those devils is coming at yer."
+
+Roylance was not a dozen feet from the speaker now, and they saw him
+give a violent start, and glance wildly over his shoulder.
+
+The fright did it.  He could no longer swim calmly now, but began to
+throw out his arms hand over hand to reach the rock, splashing the water
+up into foam, and in an instant this brought the shark in his track.
+
+"Ready with the stones?" cried Syd, seizing one himself, and poising it
+above his head.
+
+The others obeyed, and what followed seemed afterwards almost momentary.
+
+The shark scented its prey, and came on steadily now toward where
+Roylance was struggling desperately.  In another minute the poor fellow
+would have been seized, but a shower of great stones came whirling down
+in dangerous proximity to the swimmer, only one of which struck the
+shark, but that one with so good effect that it was for the moment
+disconcerted, and turned round as if puzzled.  But directly after it saw
+its prey, went down, and rose in the act of turning over to seize its
+victim.
+
+But there's many a slip between the cup and the lip, even in the case of
+sharks.  Many a one has had a knife ripping it open just as it has
+anticipated enjoying some juicy black; and others have had their prey
+snatched from their lancet-studded jaws, or tasted with it a hook.
+
+It was so here.  Syd had hurled his stone, and was watching its effect
+before stooping for another, when he realised what the sailor in the
+loop below was about to do.
+
+"No, no," he cried, quick as thought.  "No more stones, stand by with
+the rope."
+
+Syd threw himself down upon his chest and strained over the edge to
+watch what was going on, while, with the rapidity taught by discipline,
+the sailors seized the rope, and stood ready and waiting the next order.
+
+It was not for them to think for themselves, but to act as their
+officers bade, and Syd was already one whom they trusted and flew to
+obey.
+
+All this takes long to describe, but the action was quick enough.
+
+The sailor at the end of the rope had, as Roylance drew nearer, spun
+himself round rapidly till the loop was tight about him as he sat
+astride in the bight, and then he began to swing himself to and fro,
+describing a longer and longer arc till he found that he could reach.
+Then with a sudden desperate movement he flung himself forward and
+grasped Roylance round the waist, seizing the line the midshipman held
+with his teeth, too; and then as, with the horror of despair, Roylance
+exerted his failing strength to get a grip of the bight of the hanging
+rope, Syd loudly shouted--
+
+"Now, my lads, run them up."  It was just in time.
+
+In spite of the rocks and dangerous nature of the top of the cliff, the
+men, who had been waiting, started away from the edge, the rope hissed
+in running over the limestone, and Roylance and his brave rescuer were
+literally snatched up ten feet as the shark made its second attack, but
+only to fall back into the sea with a mighty splash.
+
+"Haul now!" cried Syd, excitedly, for the men could go no farther.
+
+"No, no, avast! avast!" came up hoarsely from between the sailor's
+teeth, as he and Roylance swung to and fro just above the maddened
+shark, which began to swim in a circle.
+
+"Stop!" roared Syd.  "Can you hold on, sir?" said the sailor.  "Yes,"
+said Roylance.  "Then here goes.  Loose the line, sir."  His hands were
+free, and he had taken the tow-rope now from his teeth.
+
+Hardly knowing what he did Roylance obeyed, and with the rapidity taught
+by much handling of hemp, the sailor passed the end of the tow-rope
+through the bight of that which supported them, and then sent it through
+again, and secured it with a knot.
+
+It was just in time, for as he drew through the end and tugged at it,
+the line began to tighten, and draw them out of the perpendicular, then
+more and more away from the rock as the boat still glided away.
+
+"All right, sir, I've got you now," cried the sailor, clasping Roylance
+about the waist.  "Now then, get your legs 'cross mine, and put your
+arms round my neck and the rope too.  That's your sort.  Glad I saved
+your end from going after all that trouble."
+
+"Ready below?" cried Syd, as he looked down.  "Well, no, sir," said the
+sailor, "I wouldn't haul yet, or t'other line might part.--Did you make
+it well fast aboard the boat, sir?" he continued to Roylance.
+
+The latter nodded his head, and sat gazing down, shuddering, at the
+shark.
+
+"Then you'd best wait, sir," shouted the man, as they were drawn up
+higher and higher, swinging gently like a counterpoise.  "You see our
+weight eases it off like on the boat, and we may get her yet."
+
+It seemed possible, for its rate was checked, but the slow deliberate
+glide still went on a little, flattening the curve formed by the two
+lines extending from the deck of the boat to the top of the rocks, fifty
+feet above the sea.
+
+"One moment, Mr Roylance, sir," said the man, as coolly as if he were
+in the rigging of the ship, and not suspended by a thin rope over the
+jaws of a monstrous shark.  "I want to get my legs round facing that
+cliff there.  That's your sort.  Now if your line gives way, as I'm
+feared it will--one minute: yes, the knot's fast; that won't draw--I
+say, if the rope gives way we shall go down again the rocks with a
+spang, but don't you mind; it'll only be a swing, and I'll fend us off
+with my feet.  My! we're getting tight now.  Look out, sir, we're
+going."
+
+But the rope did not break, for seeing how dangerous the strain was
+becoming, Syd ordered the men behind him to ease off a little, and then
+a little more and a little more, till the progress of the water-logged
+vessel was gradually checked, and as they felt that the worst of the
+strain was over, the men on the cliff gave a cheer.
+
+"Steady there, steady!" cried Terry, angrily, and the men murmured.
+
+"Silence there!" cried Syd.  "Now, my lads, I think you may begin to
+haul."
+
+The men obeyed, and by the exercise of a great deal of caution the first
+rope was drawn slowly hand over hand up the cliff till Roylance's head
+appeared.  Syd extended his hands to his help, and the midshipman
+climbed over the edge and sat down in the hot sunshine in his drenched
+clothes, looking white and haggard, as one looks after a terrible escape
+from death.
+
+The next minute the sailor was on the cliff, looking none the worse for
+his adventure, but pretty well drenched by contact with Roylance's
+dripping clothes.
+
+Then a little more hauling took place, till the men could get a good
+hold of the line Roylance had brought ashore, in the midst of which the
+latter suddenly sprang up, looked over the edge of the cliff, and
+catching sight of his enemy, he picked up the biggest piece of stone he
+could lift and hurled it down.  It fell with a mighty splash in the
+water, and as chance had it, for little could be said for the aim, right
+down upon the shark, which turned up directly after, and then recovered
+itself and swam laboriously away.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT.
+
+"You made me feel horribly bad, Roy," whispered Syd, hastily.  "How
+could you do such a fearfully dangerous thing?"
+
+Roylance smiled feebly and pointed down at the boat, which was yielding
+slowly to the drag kept on it by the men.
+
+"That may be the means of saving our lives," he said.
+
+"Are you going to leave those other two poor fellows to fall off the
+rock as food for the sharks, Mr Belton?" said Terry, who had been put
+out of temper by the action of the men.
+
+"I think you can answer that question yourself, Mr Terry," said
+Roylance, flushing up angrily.
+
+Syd made no reply, but quietly gave his orders.
+
+"Mr Roylance," he said, "are you well enough to take charge of the men
+here, as they haul the boat along, while I go and see to the bo'sun and
+Rogers being got up the cliff?"
+
+"Well enough? yes," cried Roylance, upon whom the short encounter with
+Terry had acted like a stimulus.
+
+Terry turned pale with rage at being passed over, and he followed Syd
+and four of the men as they hurried along with the rope set at liberty
+coiled up.
+
+It was with no little anxiety that the party approached the spot where
+Rogers had gone down, while Terry, who had expressed so much interest in
+the fate of the two men, oddly enough hung behind.
+
+Syd was the first to reach the place, and looked over to be greeted by
+Rogers with a hail.
+
+"Is Mr Strake all right?"
+
+"Ay, ay, sir; all but my bark," said the boatswain.  "Don't say, sir, as
+you haven't got Mr Roylance off the boat."
+
+"Got him off, Strake, and they're towing the boat along."
+
+"Hurrah!" shouted the two men, whose position in an indentation of the
+rock line had prevented them from seeing what was going on.
+
+The rope was lowered down with the loop all ready, and Strake was hauled
+up first, his appearance over the side being greeted with a cheer, and
+plenty of hands were ready to help him into a sitting position, for it
+was evident that he could not lift one leg.
+
+"Never mind me, my lads," he said, quietly.  "Get Rogers on deck first."
+
+This was soon effected, the smart young sailor displaying an activity as
+he scrambled over the edge of the rocks that contrasted strangely with
+the boatswain's limp.
+
+"Now, Strake," said Syd, as soon as he had seen Rogers safe, "are you
+hurt?"
+
+"Hurt, sir?  Did you say hurt?"
+
+"Yes, yes, man."
+
+"Well, I s'pose I am, sir, for I feels as if I'd got a big sore place
+spread all over me.  Mussy me, sir, that's about the hardest rocks to
+fall on as ever was."
+
+"But no bones broken?"
+
+"Bones broken?  Nay.  I've got none of your poor brittle chaney-ladle
+kind o' bones; but my head's cut and the bark's all off my right leg in
+the front.  Left leg arn't got no bark at all, and I'm reg'larly shaken
+in all my seams, and stove in on my starboard quarter, sir.  So if
+you'll have me got into dock or beached and then overhaul me a bit, I'd
+take it kindly."
+
+"Of course, of course, Strake; anything I can do."
+
+"Ahoy!" cried the old man, raising a hand as he sat in the sunshine upon
+the rock, but lowering it directly.  "Oh, dear; I wanted to give them a
+hearty cheer yonder, but, phew! it's bellows to mend somewhere.  Yes,
+I'm stove in.  Old ship's been on the rocks; all in the dry though."
+
+A cheer came back, though, as Roylance and his men caught sight of the
+two who had been rescued, while they towed the boat slowly along.
+
+"How are we to get you back to the huts, Strake?" said Syd, anxiously.
+
+"Oh, never mind me just at present, my lad," said the boatswain; "what I
+want to see is that there boat got alongside o' our harbour--on'y
+'tarn't a harbour--and made fast with all the rope you can find.  Maybe
+she's got a cable aboard.  I should break my heart if she weer to break
+adrift now."
+
+"Mr Roylance has her in charge, Strake, and I'll see to you.  Where are
+you in pain?"
+
+"Ask me where I arn't in pain, Mr Belton, sir.  I got it this time."
+
+"I'm sorry for you, Strake."
+
+"Thank ye, sir; but I'm sorry for you.  There's a big job to patch me up
+and caulk me, I can tell you.  It's horspittle this time, I'm feared."
+
+"But how are we to move you without giving you pain?"
+
+"I'll tell you, sir.  Sail again, and some un at each corner.  We shan't
+beat that."
+
+The sail was procured, and the injured man was carried as carefully as
+possible back to the foot of the gap, hoisted up, and then borne into
+the hospital.
+
+"Strake!  Hurt?" cried the lieutenant.
+
+"Oh, not much, sir; bit of a tumble, that's all, sir.  Don't you be
+skeared.  I arn't going to make no row about it.  No, no, sir, please,"
+continued the boatswain, "not yet.  I don't feel fit to be boarded.
+Just you go and give your orders to make that there boat safe, and then
+I'm ready for you.  One word though, sir."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"Have that there boat well fended, or she'll grind herself to pieces
+agen the rock."
+
+Syd hesitated, but being full of anxiety to see the boat that had cost
+them so much thoroughly secured, and feeling perhaps that after all a
+rest after his rough journey would make the boatswain more able to bear
+examination and bandaging, he hurried off to find that he need not have
+troubled himself, for Roylance was doing everything possible, and the
+vessel was being safely moored head and stern.
+
+But he was in time to have the boatswain's proposition carried out, and
+a couple of pieces of spar were hung over the side to keep her from
+tearing and grinding on the edge of the natural pier.
+
+As Syd was returning he came upon Terry, looking black as night, and
+held out his hand.
+
+"I'm sorry there should have been any fresh unpleasantness," he said.
+"Can't we be friends, Mr Terry?"
+
+"That's just what I want to be, Belton," cried Terry, eagerly, seizing
+the proffered hand.  "I'm afraid I did interfere a bit too much to-day."
+
+"And somehow," mused Syd, as he went on to the hospital, "I can't feel
+as if it's all genuine.  It's like shaking hands with a sole and five
+sprats.  Ugh! how cold and fishy his hand did feel."
+
+The lieutenant was lying in the hospital with his eyes closed, and Pan
+was bathing his father's brow with water, using his injured arm now and
+then out of forgetfulness, but putting it back in the sling again as
+soon as it was observed.
+
+"Arn't much the matter with it, I know, Pan-y-mar," the injured man
+whispered, as Syd halted by the door to see how his new patient seemed,
+trembling terribly in his ignorance at having to put his smattering of
+surgery to the test once more.
+
+"Ah, you dunno, father," grumbled the boy.  "You've ketched it this
+time.  I don't talk about getting no rope's-ends to you."
+
+"No, my lad, you don't.  I should jest like to ketch you at it.  But you
+won't see me going about in a sling."
+
+"Ah, you dunno yet, father."
+
+"Don't I?  You young swab; why, if I had my head took off with a shot, I
+wouldn't howl as you did."
+
+"Why, yer couldn't, father," said Pan, grinning.
+
+"What, yer laughing at me, are yer?  Just you wait till I gets a few
+yards o' dackylum stuck about me, and you'll get that rope's-end yet,
+Pan-y-mar."
+
+"Oh, no!  I shan't," said Pan in a whisper, after glancing at the
+lieutenant, who was lying with his eyes closed.  "You'll be bad for two
+months."
+
+"What?  Why, you sarcy young lubber, if the luff warn't a-lying there
+and I didn't want to wake him, I'd give yer such a cuff over the ear as
+'d make yer think bells was ringing."
+
+"Couldn't reach," said Pan, dabbing his face.
+
+"Then I'd kick yer out of the door."
+
+"Yah!" grinned Pan.  "Can't kick.  I see yer brought in, and yer
+couldn't stand."
+
+"Keep that water out o' my eye, warmint, will you," whispered the
+boatswain.  "Water's too good to be wasted.  Give us a drink, boy."
+
+Pan rose and dipped a pannikin full of the cool water from a bucket, and
+held it to his father's lips.
+
+"Wouldn't have had no water if it hadn't been for me coming ashore," he
+said.
+
+"Ah, you've a lot to boast about.  Just you pour that in properly, will
+yer; I want it inside, not out."
+
+"Who's to pour it right when yer keeps on talking?" said Pan, as he
+trickled the water into his father's mouth.
+
+"Ah, you're a nice sarcy one now I'm down, Pan-y-mar," said Stoke, after
+a long refreshing draught.  "But you may be trustful, I've got a good
+memory for rope's-ends, and you shall have it warmly as soon as I'm
+well."
+
+"Then I won't stop and nuss yer," said Pan, drawing back.
+
+"You just come on, will yer, yer ungrateful swab."
+
+"Shan't," said Pan.
+
+"What!  Do you know this here arn't the skipper's garden, and you and me
+only gardeners, but 'board ship--leastwise it's all the same--and I'm
+your orficer?"
+
+"You arn't a orficer now," said Pan, grinning.  "You're only a wounded
+man."
+
+"Come here."
+
+"Shan't!"
+
+"Pan-y-mar, come here."
+
+"Say you won't rope's-end me, and I will."
+
+"But I will rope's-end you."
+
+"Then I won't come."
+
+The boatswain made an effort to rise, but sank back with a groan.  Pan
+took a couple of steps forward, and looked at him eagerly.
+
+"Why, you're shamming, father," he said.
+
+The boatswain lay back with the great drops of sweat standing on his
+face.
+
+"I say, you won't rope's-end me, father?"
+
+There was no reply.
+
+"Why, you are shamming, father."
+
+Still all was silent, and the boy darted to the injured man's side and
+began to bathe his face rapidly.
+
+"Father," he whispered, hoarsely, "father.  Oh, I say!  Don't die, and
+you shall give it me as much as you like.  Father--Oh, it's you, Master
+Syd.  Be quick!  He's so bad.  What shall I do?"
+
+"Be quiet," said Syd, quietly.  "Don't be frightened; he has fainted."
+
+"Then why did he go scaring a lad like that?" whimpered Pan, looking on.
+
+"Hush!  Be quiet.  There: he is coming round," said Syd, as the injured
+man uttered a loud sigh and looked wonderingly about him.
+
+"Just let me get hold--Oh, it's you, sir.  Glad you've comed.  I'm ready
+now.--Stand aside, Pan-y-mar, and give the doctor room.--Say, Master
+Syd," he whispered, "don't let that young sneak know what I said, but I
+do feel a bit skeared."
+
+"You are weak and faint."
+
+"But it's about my legs, Master Sydney.  Don't take 'em off, lad, unless
+you are obliged."
+
+"Nonsense!  I shall not want to do that.  You are much bruised, but
+there are no bones broken."
+
+"Ay, but there are, my lad," said the boatswain, sadly.  "I didn't want
+to say much about it, but I am stove in.  Ribs."
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"Feels it every time I breathes, my lad.  Bad job when a ship's timbers
+goes."
+
+Sydney knew what to do under the circumstances, and sending Pan for
+Rogers to help him, he proceeded to examine his fresh patient, to find
+that two ribs were broken on the right side, the rest of the injuries
+consisting of severe bruises and grazings of the skin.  In addition
+there were a couple of cuts on the back of the head, which called for
+strapping up.
+
+Part of these injuries had been attended to by the time Pan returned
+with Rogers, and then the ribs were tightly bandaged with a broad strip
+of sail-cloth.
+
+"I say, sir," growled the boatswain, "not going to do this all over me?"
+
+"No!  Why?"
+
+"'Cause I shan't be able to move, and my boy's been a-haskin' for
+something hot 'fore you come."
+
+"That I didn't, father."
+
+"Oh, yes, you did, my lad.  You didn't ask with yer mouth, but have a
+way of asking for what you're so fond on without making no noise."
+
+Pan screwed up his face, and the lieutenant, who had been lying
+apparently asleep, burst into a loud laugh.
+
+"Come, Strake," he said, "you had better leave that, and think of
+getting better."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir; but I hope I see you better for your nap."
+
+"I wish you did, my man, and I wish you the same.  But there, we've such
+a skilful young doctor to look after us, we shan't hurt much."
+
+"Not us, sir.  I am't nothing to what you was, and see what a job Mr
+Belton's made o' you."
+
+"Yes; it's wonderful.  I can never be grateful enough."
+
+"Beg pardon, sir," said Sydney, "but I want to finish bandaging the
+boatswain; and if you keep on talking like that I can't."
+
+"I am silent, O doctor!" said the lieutenant, laughing.  "And so you've
+got a boat, have you?"
+
+"Such as it is, sir."
+
+"Then if the captain does not come back we shall have the means of
+getting away from this place.  No; that will not do, Mr Belton: we must
+hold it till we are driven out.  Keep to it to the very last.  I say we:
+you must, for you are in command.  I suppose it will be months before I
+am well."
+
+"I'm afraid it will," replied Syd.
+
+"Then you must hold it, as I said."
+
+"Hurrah!" cried Strake, and then screwing up his face--"My word! that's
+bad.  You're all right, Pan-y-mar.  There won't be no rope's-end for you
+this week."
+
+"No," said Syd, merrily, "I think he's safe for quite that time."
+
+"And when may I move, doctor?" said Mr Dallas, smiling.
+
+"As soon as you can bear it, sir, I'll have you got out in the morning
+to lie in the shade and get the fresh sea-breeze before it grows hot."
+
+"Ah! thank you, my lad," he said, with a longing look.  "I'm beginning
+to think I would as soon have been a surgeon as what I am."
+
+Syd started and coloured up, as he wondered whether the lieutenant knew
+anything about his life at home.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THIRTY NINE.
+
+The same reply always from the look-out man by the flagstaff; no ship in
+sight, and the town of Saint Jacques slumbering in the sun.  But there
+was so much to do that Syd and Roylance could spare very little time for
+thinking.
+
+As soon as the patients had been tended there were a score of matters to
+take Syd's attention; but he was well seconded by Roylance, who, to
+Terry's disgust, threw himself heart and soul into the work of keeping
+the fort as if it were a ship.
+
+The lieutenant progressed wonderfully now that the feverish stage was
+over, and one day he said--
+
+"I can't work, Syd, my dear boy, for I am as weak as a baby, and I shall
+not interfere in any way, so go on and behave like a man."
+
+Pan forgot to use his sling to such an extent that there could be no
+mistake about his wound being in a fair way to heal, and were other
+proof needed it was shown in the way in which he tormented his helpless
+father.  For though the boatswain pooh-poohed the idea of anything much
+being the matter with him, it was evident that he suffered a great deal,
+though he never winced when his injuries were dressed.
+
+"Serves me right," he used to say.  "Arter all my practice, to think o'
+me not being able to heave a rope on board a derrylick without chucking
+myself arter it.  There, don't you worrit about me, sir.  Give me a
+hextry fig o' tobacco, and a stick or a rope's-end to stir up that young
+swab o' mine, and I shall grow fresh bark over all my grazings, and the
+broken ribs 'll soon get set.  How are you getting on with the boat?"
+
+"Not at all, Strake," replied Syd.  "We can't pump her out because
+there's a big leak in her somewhere, and I don't like to break her up in
+case we think of a way of floating her so as to get away from here."
+
+"What?  Who wants to get away from here, sir?  Orders was to occupy this
+here rock, and of course you hold it till the skipper comes back and
+takes us off."
+
+"Yes; but in case our provisions fail?"
+
+"Tchah! ketch more fish, sir.  There's plenty, aren't there?"
+
+"Yes; as much as we can use."
+
+"And any 'mount o' water?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And the only thing you want is wood for cooking?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then that boat, which seems to ha' been sent o' purpose, has to be got
+ashore somehow to be broke up.  Now, if you'll take my advice you'll
+just go down to the rocks there and think that job out.  I can't help
+you much, sir, 'cause here I am on my beam-ends.  Go and think it out,
+lad, and then come and tell me."
+
+"Strake's right," said the lieutenant, who had been lying in the shade
+outside the hut.  "Captain Belton will either be back himself or send
+help before long.  You must hold the place till he comes."
+
+Those words were comfortable to Sydney.  They were like definite orders
+from his superiors, and he could obey them with more satisfaction to
+himself than any he thought out for himself.  So he went down to the
+pier, meeting Roylance on his way, who had just been his rounds, and had
+a few words with the men on duty by the upper and lower guns, and at the
+flagstaff.
+
+"My orders are to go and see to getting the wreck ashore for firewood,
+Roylance."
+
+"Orders?" said the midshipman, laughing.  "Well, it does seem a pity
+after the trouble we took."
+
+"And risk," interpolated Syd.
+
+"To get her moored here to be of no use."
+
+"Come, and let's see what can be done."
+
+The two youths descended the rope-ladder beneath the lower gun, and
+spent some time in examining the vessel, but were compelled to give up
+in despair.  She was securely moored so that they could easily get on to
+the water-washed decks, where there were a couple of fixed pumps, but
+these had been tried again and again; and, as the men said, it was like
+trying to pump the Atlantic dry to go on toiling at a task where the
+water flowed in as fast as it was drawn out.
+
+"There's no getting at the leak even if we knew where it was," said
+Roylance.
+
+"I think the same," said Syd, "so we may as well get all the wood out of
+her we can, and lay it on the rocks to dry."
+
+This task was begun, and for two days the men worked well; some cutting,
+others dragging off planks with crowbars, while the rest bore the wood
+to the foot of the rocky wall, where it was hauled up and laid to dry in
+the hottest parts of the natural fort.
+
+It was on the third day from the beginning of this task, as the pile of
+dripping wood they had taken from the wreck began to grow broad and
+high, while endless numbers of riven pieces were ranged in the full
+sunshine, and sent forth a quivering transparent vapour into the heated
+air, that Syd, who was standing ankle-deep in water on a cross-beam
+directing the men, and warning them not to make a false step on account
+of the sharks, suddenly uttered a cry--
+
+"Look out!" he shouted, and there was a rush for the rock, where as soon
+as they were on safely the men began to roar with laughter.
+
+"Beg pardon, sir," said Rogers, touching his hat, as he stood axe in
+hand; "but seeing as how he tried to eat me, oughtn't we to try and eat
+he?"
+
+The "he" pointed to was a long, lean, hungry-looking shark which had
+been cruising about the side of the vessel, whose bulwarks had all been
+ripped off and deck torn up, so that she floated now like a huge tub
+whose centre was crossed by broad beams.  So open was the vessel that it
+had needed very little effort on the part of a shark to make a rush,
+glide in over the ragged side, and then begin floundering about in the
+water, and over and under the beams which had supported the deck.
+
+"I don't know about eating him, Roy," said Syd; "but as I'm captain I
+pass sentence of death on the brute."  Then to the men--"How can you
+tackle the wretch?"
+
+"Oh, we'll soon tackle him, sir," said Rogers; "eh, messmets?"
+
+There was a growl of assent at this, and the men looked at their young
+leader full of expectancy.
+
+"Well," he said, "be careful.  What do you mean to do?"
+
+"Seems to me, sir," said the man, "as the best thing to do would be to
+fish for him."
+
+"No, no," cried Roylance; "fetch a line with a running knot, and see if
+you can't get it round him, and have him out."
+
+Rogers gave his leg a slap.
+
+"That's it, sir.  Pity you and me can't be swung over him like we was
+off the rocks.  Easily run it across his nose then."
+
+Roylance could not help a shudder, and he glanced at Syd to see if he
+was observed.
+
+"I get dreaming about that thing sometimes," he said.  "I wonder whether
+this is the one."
+
+"Hardly likely, but it's sure to be a relation," said Syd, laughing, as
+they stood watching the movements of the shark, which seemed to be
+puzzled by its quarters, and was now showing its tail as it dived down
+under a beam, now raising its head to glide over and disappear in the
+depths of the ship's hold.
+
+The men were not long in getting the line that had been used to tow the
+vessel to its moorings, and a freely running noose was prepared and
+tested by Rogers, who suddenly threw it over one of his messmates'
+heads, gave it a snatch, and drew it taut.  Taking it off, he lassoed
+another in the same way.
+
+"That's the tackle," he said, smiling.  "Next thing is to get it round
+the shark."
+
+"Yes," said Roylance, "but it's something like the rats putting the bell
+on the cat's neck.  Who's to do it?"
+
+"Oh, I'm a-going to do it, sir," said Rogers, shaking out the rope.
+"Lay hold, messmates, and when I says `now!' have him out and over the
+rocks here.--P'r'aps, sir, you'd like to have an axe to give him number
+one?"
+
+"How do you mean?"
+
+"One on the tail, sir, to fetch it off; only look out, for he's pretty
+handy with his tail."
+
+"That's what some one said of the man who had his legs shot off,"
+whispered Roylance, laughing, "that he was pretty handy with the wooden
+ones."
+
+"We're ready, sir," said Rogers, "when you likes to give the word."
+
+"But about danger, my man?" said Syd, who half-wondered at himself, as
+he hectored over the crew, and thought that he was a good deal like
+Terry, who was contemptuously looking on.
+
+"Theer's no danger, sir," said Rogers.  "I don't know so much about
+that," said Syd; "suppose you slipped and went down into the hold?"
+
+"Well, in that case, sir," said Rogers, grimly, "Master Jack there would
+have the best of it, and none of his mates to help.  Wonder whether a
+shark like that shovel-nosed beggar could eat a whole man at a meal?"
+
+"Ugh!" ejaculated Syd, with a shudder.  "It's too risky.  Better give it
+up."  But the men looked chapfallen.
+
+"But the brute will put a complete stop to our work," said Roylance, who
+was watching the restless movements of the self-imprisoned shark.
+"Don't stop them, Belton," he continued, in a low tone, "I want to see
+that monster killed."
+
+"For revenge?"
+
+"If you like to call it so.  It or one of its fellows made me pass such
+moments of agony as I shall never forget."
+
+"I shall never forget my horror either," said Syd, as he too looked
+viciously at the savage creature, which just then rose out of the water
+and glided over one of the beams.  "There, go on, Rogers, only take
+great care."
+
+"I just will that, sir," said the man, as his messmates cheered; and
+taking the noose in his hand he stepped along the plank leading from the
+rocks to the vessel.  "When I say `_now_, lads,' mind you let him feel
+you directly; and haul him out."
+
+"Ay, ay!" cried the men; and then every eye was fixed upon the active
+young fellow, whose white feet seemed to cling to the wet planking upon
+which he stood, and from which he stepped cautiously out upon one of the
+beams that curved over from side to side.
+
+Hardly was he well out, and stooping down peering into the water, than
+Syd uttered a warning cry, and the man bounded back as the shark,
+attracted by the sight of his white legs, came up from behind, and
+glided exactly over the spot where he had been standing.
+
+"Ah! would yer!" shouted Rogers; and the men roared with laughter.
+"This here's fishing with your own legs for bait," continued the young
+sailor.  "Well, it's got to be who's sharpest--him or me."
+
+"I think you had better not venture," said Syd, hesitating again.
+
+"Oh! don't say that, sir.  We shall all be horrid disappointed if we
+don't get him."
+
+"But see what a narrow escape you had."
+
+"Well, yes, sir; I wasn't quite sharp enough, but there was no harm
+done."
+
+"Go on," said Syd, unwillingly, as he caught Roylance's eye; and
+hurrying by for fear that the permission should be withdrawn, the man
+stepped quickly back on to the beam, keeping a sharp look-out to right
+and left.
+
+"I see you, you beggar," he said; "come on."
+
+The shark accepted the invitation, and made quite a leap, passing over
+the beam again, diving down, snowing his white, and swam twenty feet
+away, to turn with difficulty amongst the submerged timber forward, and
+returned aiming clumsily at the white legs which tempted him, but
+missing his goal, for the young sailor nimbly leaped ashore.
+
+"I shan't get him that way," he said.  "Here, give us something white."
+
+There was nothing white handy but blocks of coral, and Rogers solved the
+difficulty by selecting a hat and taking a handspike.
+
+He tried his plan at least a dozen times without result, and lost two
+good chances; but the man was too clever for the shark at last.  Rogers
+had scanned pretty accurately the course the brute would pursue, and had
+noted that when once it gave a vigorous sweep with its tail to send
+itself forward, there was no variation in its course.
+
+So waiting his time, standing in the middle of the cross-beams with the
+noose in his hand, he fixed his eye upon his enemy, threw the hat ashore
+as a useless bait, and depending once more upon himself, he waited.
+
+It was not for long.  The brute made at him, and as it glided out of the
+water to seize its prey, Rogers, by a quick leap, spread his legs wide
+apart and held the noose so cleverly that the shark glided into it as a
+dog leaps through a hoop; and it was so ingeniously adjusted that the
+rope tightened directly, almost before the young sailor could shout
+"_Now_" while the shark went over and down between two of the
+cross-beams behind his fisher, as, from a cause upon which he had not
+counted, Rogers took an involuntary header into the part of the
+water-logged vessel from which the shark had come.
+
+The cause upon which the young sailor had not reckoned was the rope,
+which, at the shark's plunge as soon as noosed, tightened the line which
+crossed Rogers' leg, snatched it from under him, and down he went, to
+the horror of all present.
+
+In a moment the water all about where the shark had plunged began to
+boil, and the next moment there was a quick splashing as Rogers' head
+appeared.
+
+"Hold on to him!" he shouted.  "Don't let him go.  Where's he ketched?"
+
+"Don't talk," yelled Syd, running along the planks to stretch out a
+hand.  "Here, quick, let me help you out."
+
+"Oh, I'm all right, sir, so long as the rope holds," cried the young
+sailor, coolly.  "He won't think of me while he's got that bit of line
+about him."  But he climbed out all the same, and stood rubbing his
+shin.
+
+"Never thought of the rope hitching on to me like that," he said.
+"Whereabouts is he ketched, mates?"
+
+"The rope has slipped down pretty close to his tail," cried Roylance, as
+he watched the creature's frantic plunges in the limited space.
+
+"Something like fishing this, Roy," said Syd, excitedly, while the men
+held on, and they could see amid the flying, foaming water the long,
+lithe body quivering from end to end like a steel spring.
+
+"I'd haul him out, sir, 'fore he shakes that noose right over his tail."
+
+"Yes.  Look alive, my lads.  Now then!" cried Syd, "haul him out.
+Quick!"
+
+The men gave a cheer, and hauling together, they ran the writhing
+monster right out of the water, and over the edge of the natural pier,
+fifty feet or so up among the loose rocks, where it leaped and bounded
+and pranced about for a few minutes in a way which forbade approach.
+
+Then there was a loud cheer as Rogers seized his opportunity, and
+brought down the axe he had snatched up with so vigorous a stroke on the
+creature's back, about a couple of feet above the great lobe of the
+tail, that the vertebra was divided, and from that moment the violent
+efforts to get free lost their power.
+
+It was an easy task now to give the savage monster its _coup de grace_,
+and as it lay now quivering and beyond doing mischief, the men set up
+another cheer and crowded round.
+
+"There," cried Rogers, "that means shark steak for dinner, lads, and--"
+
+"Sail ho!" came from above; and the shark was forgotten as the words
+sent an electric thrill through all.
+
+"Come on, Roylance!" cried Syd, climbing up the rope-ladder to run and
+get his glass.
+
+"Ay, ay," cried Roylance, following.
+
+"Let's get a better hold with the rope, mates," said Rogers, "and haul
+the beggar right up on deck.  They're artful beggars is sharks, and if
+we leave him here he'd as like as not to come to life, shove a few
+stitches in the cut in his tail, and go off to sea again."
+
+The men laughed, and the prize was hauled right up to the perpendicular
+wall below the tackle, willing hands making the quivering mass fast, and
+hauling it right up into the gap, and beyond all possibility of its
+again reaching the sea.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FORTY.
+
+A good deal had been done to make the way easy, but still it was an
+arduous and hot climb up to the flagstaff, on his way to which Syd had
+found time, in case they had not heard, to announce the sail in sight to
+Mr Dallas and the boatswain.
+
+There it was, sure enough, a vessel in full sail right away in the east;
+and as Syd gazed at it through the glass, his spirits sank.
+
+"It isn't the _Sirius_," he said, as he handed the glass to Roylance.
+
+"No, sir," said the man on the look-out; "she's a Frenchy, I think."
+
+"How do you know it isn't the _Sirius_?" said Roylance, as he used the
+glass.
+
+"Because her masts slope more than those do," replied Syd, and then he
+felt how ignorant he was, and how old Strake would have told the
+nationality of a vessel "by the cut of her jib," as he would have termed
+it.  His musings were interrupted by Roylance.
+
+"Yes, I think she's a French ship," he said.  "Bound for Saint Jacques,
+evidently, and I dare say she'll come by here."
+
+"Well, we can't stop her," said Syd, shortly, for he felt annoyed that
+his companion should know so much more of seafaring matters than he.
+
+"No," replied Roylance; "but she can stop us perhaps.  I should not be
+surprised if she is coming on purpose; for the people, you see, must
+know we have taken possession of this rock, and that is why all shipping
+has kept away."
+
+"Perhaps so," said Syd, a little more testily, for it was painful to be
+so ignorant.  "Well, I suppose we can do nothing."
+
+"Do nothing?  Well, you are at the head of affairs; but if it was my
+case I should go and have a word with the lieutenant, and take his
+advice."
+
+These were his words of wisdom, and Syd hurried down to the hospital and
+reported.
+
+"And me a-lying here like a log," muttered the boatswain.
+
+"In all probability a French man-of-war come to see what we mean by
+settling down here.  Well, Mr Belton," said the lieutenant, "I do not
+suppose it means fighting; but, if I were you, I should get out my
+ammunition, and have it well up to the guns."
+
+"Why don't you tell me to do it, sir?" cried Sydney, humbly.
+
+"Because the command has fallen upon you, my lad; and I'm only a poor
+feeble creature, hardly able to lift an arm.  Come; you have no time to
+spare.  Draw up your ropes, beat to quarters, and if the enemy does come
+near, and send a boat to land, you can warn them off."
+
+"And if they will not go, sir?"
+
+"Send a shot over their heads."
+
+"And if they don't go then?"
+
+"Send one through their boat."
+
+"But that will hurt somebody, sir."
+
+"I hope so," said the lieutenant, dryly.  "Why, Strake, what are you
+doing?" he continued, excitedly, as the boatswain slowly sat up,
+uttering a groan as he lowered down his feet.
+
+"On'y going to see to that there ammunition, sir.  There's no gunner
+aboard, and some one ought to do it."
+
+"But you are too weak and ill, my man."
+
+"I shall be weaker and iller ever so much, sir, if I stop here," said
+the boatswain.  "Oh, I arn't so very bad."
+
+"But really, my man--"
+
+"Don't stop me, your honour, sir.  How could I look his father in the
+face again if I didn't lend a hand just when it's wanted most?"
+
+"Well, I cannot stop you, Strake," said the lieutenant.  "I only wish I
+could stir.  I could do nothing but take up the men's strength, and make
+them carry me about.  Go on, Mr Belton; play a bold part, and recollect
+you are acting in the King's name."
+
+Syd flushed up, and went to work at once.  The preparations did not take
+long.  The rope-ladder was hauled up and stowed away, the men were
+called to quarters, ammunition served out under the boatswain's orders,
+and the guns loaded.  Every man had his cutlass, and the British colours
+had been laid ready for hoisting at a moment's notice.
+
+When these arrangements had been made, Syd took Roylance and Terry into
+consultation, and asked them if there was anything else that could be
+done.
+
+Neither could suggest anything, for the water-casks were filled, the
+stores were up in safety, and the men had a supply of fresh fish, in the
+shape of the shark just caught--a toothsome dainty that some sailors
+consider excellent for a change.
+
+All was ready; every man at his post; and after buckling on his dirk,
+Syd thought to himself, "What an impostor I am!  What impudence it is
+for me to pretend to command these men!"
+
+But as he went out amongst them, somehow it did not seem as if they
+thought so.  There was a bright eagerness in their faces, and whenever
+he spoke it was to be answered with a cheery "Ay, ay, sir!" and his
+orders were executed with alacrity.
+
+It was a small party to command, if this should prove to be a French
+man-of-war come to dispute the right of the English to this rocky speck
+off their possessions.
+
+But the matter was soon to be proved.  From time to time Syd climbed to
+the flagstaff to watch the stranger, which was approaching fast, and
+also to sweep the distant horizon in search of help in what promised to
+be his dire need.
+
+And here it may as well be stated that in planting his garrison on the
+rock, it had been the intention of Captain Belton--an idea endorsed by
+his consort--to let a party of his men hold the place, so as to keep any
+party from Saint Jacques from taking possession, and from thence
+annoying his ships.  Such a venture could only be made with boats from
+the town, and these he felt that it would be easy for the little
+garrison to beat off.  It never entered into his calculations that the
+rock could be attacked by a man-of-war, for he and his consort would be
+there watching the channel which led up to the town, and theirs would be
+the duty to repel any formidable attack.
+
+The gale, which had risen to a hurricane, changed all this, and that
+upon which the captain did not count had come to pass.
+
+For a French frigate was sailing steadily up the broad channel--a vessel
+whose captain was evidently quite at home among the coral reefs and
+shoals which spread far and near, and its nearing was watched with eager
+eyes.
+
+From time to time Roylance was sent to report the state of affairs to
+Mr Dallas, who lay on his rough couch, apparently quite calm and
+confident, but with a red patch burning in either cheek, as he bitterly
+felt his helplessness and inability to do more than give a word or two
+of advice.  But this advice he did give, when the frigate was about a
+mile off.
+
+"We are so weak here," he said to Roylance, "that Mr Belton had better
+keep his men well out of sight, and not invite inquiry or molestation.
+The vessel may not be coming here, and if they see no one will pass on."
+
+Roylance communicated this to Syd.
+
+"But there is one thing they will see," he said.
+
+"What?"
+
+"The flagstaff."
+
+"Yes; I had forgotten that, and it is too late to take it down; the men
+would be seen."
+
+All this time the frigate was steadily approaching, for if her course
+was to reach the town that slept so calmly in the sunshine, she would
+come within about half a mile of the rock as she passed.
+
+The orders were given for the men to keep out of sight at the lower gun,
+the heavy piece being drawn back from the opening in the stone wall
+built up in front; and Roylance, who had charge there, lay down behind a
+piece of rock, where he could watch the vessel's course.
+
+Syd went on himself to the upper gun, after bidding the man at the
+flagstaff keep out of sight.
+
+Terry was walking up and down impatiently as the lad approached, and the
+latter looked at him wonderingly, for only a short time before they had
+parted apparently the best of friends.
+
+"Look here, Mr Belton," said Terry, losing not a moment in developing
+his new grievance, "I want to know why Roylance has been sent down to
+the lower gun, where the work is of more importance than this."
+
+"More importance?" said Syd.
+
+"Yes; I suppose you have been advised to do it as a slight upon me.  You
+would not have done it of your own accord."
+
+"I was not advised to do anything of the kind," said Syd, quietly; "I
+did what I thought was best.  If there is any difference in the two
+posts, this is the more important, because every one would have to
+retreat here in case the lower gun was taken."
+
+"Surely I ought to know which is the more important, sir," cried Terry,
+loudly, "and I see now it is a question of favouritism or friendliness.
+But I shall protest against it, and so I tell you."
+
+"There is no time to discuss such a matter as this now, Mr Terry," said
+Syd.  "You are to hold this gun in readiness to cover the retreat if the
+lower work becomes untenable; and now you must keep yourself and men
+hidden, and the gun drawn back."
+
+"What for?" said Terry, with asinine obstinacy.
+
+"I cannot stop to explain why."
+
+"But I insist, sir.  Am I to play the part of coward without having the
+privilege of knowing why such a distasteful course is to be adopted?  I
+am sure if Mr Dallas knew--"
+
+"Do as you're told, sir," cried Syd, warmly.  "Not a man is to be seen.
+Run that gun in, my lads."
+
+Then, as the order was obeyed, much to Terry's disgust, Syd said
+quietly--
+
+"The men are to keep out of sight, so that the French ship may pass on.
+You understand?"
+
+"Oh, yes: I understand," sneered Terry, as Syd went away, and then crept
+up under the shelter of the side of one of the rifts to the flagstaff,
+where he lay down beside the watch and opened his glass, so that he was
+able to examine the coming vessel at his ease.
+
+Twenty-eight guns he counted, and as he kept on watching he could even
+see the movements of the men on deck.  All calm and quiet there; the men
+in knots, the officers seated, or leaning over the side.  There could be
+no doubt about it; the man-of-war was on a peaceable mission, as far as
+the rock was concerned, and would pass on.
+
+Once or twice Sydney saw an officer glance in his direction, but only to
+turn away again.  But he made no report to any one else, and the frigate
+sailed on in the hot evening sunshine.
+
+Syd felt his spirits rise.  He had proved himself to be no coward,
+though he shrank from the awful responsibility of giving orders or
+committing acts which might cause the shedding of blood.  The Frenchman
+was sailing steadily on, and the lad drew his breath more freely, as he
+said, almost unconsciously, to the man watching by his side--
+
+"There'll be no fighting, my lad."
+
+"Well, sir," replied the man, who happened to be Rogers, "I dunno as I
+want to fight.  If I'm told to, course I shall, but it takes a lot with
+me to get my monkey up; and I'd rather look like a coward any day than
+have to fire at a man or give him a chop with my cutlash."
+
+"Quite right, Rogers.  I don't think those who bounce most are the
+bravest.  How bright and clean it looks on board ship!  I wonder how
+soon the _Sirius_ will come back.  Ah, there she goes," he continued, as
+he used the glass, "sailing straight away for Saint Jacques; one could
+almost like to be in her for a change.  Hallo!"
+
+He looked eagerly through his glass at the passing ship, and became
+suddenly aware of the fact that something had attracted the attention of
+the officers of the French frigate, for one of the men went up quickly
+to an officer on the quarter-deck, and through the glass Sydney could
+see the gold lace of his uniform glisten as he raised one hand and
+pointed at the rock.
+
+"How vexatious!" said Syd, aloud; "that officer must have seen the
+flagstaff."
+
+"No, sir; I don't think so," said Rogers.
+
+"Nonsense, man! they have seen it.  Look, they're throwing the ship up
+in the wind, and--yes--they're going to lower a boat.  Look at the men
+swarming across the deck like ants.  They must have seen the flagstaff.
+What a pity it was not taken down!"
+
+"Beg pardon, sir; I don't think it was the flagstaff."
+
+"What, then?  They couldn't see the guns."
+
+"No, sir; but they could have seen Mr Terry."
+
+"How?  Why?"
+
+"He got up on the gun-carriage, and stood down below there, staring out
+to sea."
+
+Syd lowered the glass and changed his position, so that he could look
+down into the little stone-built fort, where the upper gun was placed,
+and there, sure enough, was Terry in the act of getting down from the
+gun-carriage.
+
+"Why, what can he mean by that?"
+
+"Dunno, sir," said the man, bluntly.  "He's a orficer; but if it had
+been one of us we should precious soon know."
+
+"What do you mean?" cried Sydney, uneasily.
+
+"Only, sir, as you orficers would call it treachery, and it might mean
+yard-arm."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FORTY ONE.
+
+Treachery or only spite, which could it be?  Syd felt a sensation of
+cold running through him as he raised the glass again and watched the
+frigate, for he felt that perhaps after all he might have been mistaken,
+and the sailor lying by him too.  Terry was an officer and a gentleman.
+He had a horrible temper; he was as jealous and overweening as could be,
+but it seemed impossible that he could so degrade himself as to be
+guilty of an act that was like a betrayal of his brother officers and
+the men.
+
+But it was no mistake as far as the frigate was concerned.  She had
+rounded to, her sails were beginning to flap, and amidst the scene of
+bustle on deck a boat was lowered, and the next minute it was seen
+gliding away from the vessel's side, filled by a smart crew whose oars
+seemed to be splashing up golden water as the sun sank and got more
+round.  There were two officers in the stern, and now and then something
+flashed which looked like weapons, and a second glance showed that they
+were the swords of the officers and the guns of the marines.
+
+"We are seen, sure enough," said Syd.  "Be ready with the colours,
+Rogers," he added aloud.  "Hoist them the moment you hear me shout."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir.  But it may only be a bit o' _parley voo_, and no fighting
+arter all."
+
+"I hope not," thought Syd, as he hurried down the rift, avoiding Terry's
+work, and making straight for the lieutenant's quarters, where he
+flinched from telling of Terry's actions, and contented himself by
+saying what he had seen.
+
+"Well, Mr Belton," said the lieutenant, with a slight flush coming into
+his pale face, "you are a King's officer in command, but you know the
+captain's wishes; and, boy as you are, sir, you must do what we all do
+under such trying circumstances--act like a man."
+
+"And--"
+
+Syd ceased speaking, and asked the remainder of his question with his
+eyes.
+
+"Yes, sir, fire upon them, if necessary.  If that boat is from a French
+man-of-war, her men must not land."
+
+Syd drew in a long breath, nodded shortly, and was going out without a
+word.
+
+"Stop!" cried the lieutenant.  "Take off that plaything, my dear lad,
+and buckle on my sword.  That's right, take up a hole or two in the belt
+as you go.  Here's a motto for your crest when you sport one,
+`_Belton_--_Belt on_'!  Now God bless you, my lad!  Do your duty for
+your own and your father's sake."
+
+There was a quick grasp of the hand, and Syd ran out, fastening on the
+sword-belt as he went, and feeling rather a curious sensation in the
+throat as he mentally exclaimed--"I will."
+
+The men were lying down by the breastwork of the lower gun as he trotted
+over the slope, and to his surprise he found the boatswain seated on a
+piece of stone with his face puckered up, watching Pan whom he had just
+sent up to the magazine.
+
+"Well: what news?" said Roylance, eagerly.  "Are they gone?"
+
+Every eye was fixed on Syd, as he replied--
+
+"No; a boat is coming ashore, and they must make for here.  We can hear
+what they have to say, but they must not land."
+
+A thrill seemed to run through the men, who lay ready to jump up and
+work the gun, and at a glance Sydney saw that their arms were all ready,
+and half the men were stripped for action.
+
+"It is a French frigate?" said Roylance.  "Yes."
+
+"Then who is to talk to them?  Can you?"
+
+"I know the French I learned at school."
+
+"Well, I know that much," said Roylance.  "I can make them understand,
+but I don't know about understanding them."
+
+"Begging your pardon, gentlemen," said Strake, with a grim smile, "you
+needn't trouble 'bout that 'ere.  I've got a friend here as there isn't
+a Frenchy afloat as don't understand."
+
+"Whom do you mean, Strake?" said Syd, as he looked sharply at the
+boatswain.
+
+"This here, sir," he said, patting the breech of the cannon.  "On'y let
+her open her mouth and bellow; they'll know it means keep off."  The men
+laughed.  "Is the gun loaded?"
+
+"Yes, sir, with a round shot; but I've got grape and canister ready."
+
+This began to look like grim warfare, and Syd stood there waiting in
+silence, and gazing out seaward for the coming of the boat.
+
+From the little battery the extent visible was rather limited, for the
+rock rose up high to right and left.  The French frigate was right
+behind them, plain to be seen from the upper gun, the steep slope
+downward shutting it out from the lower.
+
+A full half-hour glided by, but there was no sign of the enemy, and the
+men lay waiting with the sun now beating full upon them with such power
+that the rock grew almost too hot to touch.
+
+"If they don't look sharp and come," said Strake, moving the lantern he
+had with him more into the shade, "my candle here will melt into hyle,
+and that there gun 'ill begin to speak French without being touched."
+
+"Surely the sun has not power enough to light the charge, Strake."
+
+"Well, sir, I never knowed it done yet," said the boatswain, dubiously.
+
+Another quarter of an hour passed away, and Roylance exclaimed--
+
+"Can there be any other place where they could land?"
+
+"No," said Syd, "I feel sure not."
+
+"Then why are they so long?"
+
+"Don't know the rock, and they are rowing to search all round for a
+place, the same as we did."
+
+Still the long-drawn-out space of time went slowly, and doubts began to
+intrude which made Syd glance anxiously up to right and left, as he
+thought how helpless they would be should they be taken in rear or
+flank.
+
+"Make a good fight for it all the same," said Roylance, who read his
+looks.  "But I don't see how they could land anywhere round the rock
+without men on the cliff top to help them."
+
+"Terry would not do that," thought Syd, and he glanced sharply round to
+gaze above him at the upper gun.
+
+He blushed at the thought, as he saw the young officer there, evidently
+engaged in looking out to sea.
+
+"Think the man up yonder by the flagstaff can see them?" said Roylance,
+after another weary wait.
+
+Sydney shook his head.
+
+"I say, oughtn't we to hoist the colours, Belton?"
+
+"Rogers will run them up when I make him a signal.  We don't want to
+challenge them to fight, only to defend the rock against all comers."
+
+"Gettin' hungry, mate?" whispered one of the men to the lad next him.
+
+"No: why?"
+
+"'Cause this side o' me's 'most done."
+
+There was a laugh.
+
+"Silence!" cried Syd, and then in the same breath, "Here they are!"
+
+For the bows of the frigate's boat, which had been right round the rock,
+suddenly appeared from the left with one of the officers standing up in
+the stern-sheets; and as they came on he suddenly pointed toward the
+natural pier, and the men, who had just been dipping their oars lightly,
+gave way.
+
+As they came on the party in the little battery could see the French
+officers searching the opening with their eyes, and eagerly talking
+together; but they did not hesitate, apparently not realising that the
+place had been put in a state of defence, for the gun was drawn back,
+and the embrasure was of so rugged a construction that it did not
+resemble the production of a military engineer.
+
+They ran their boat close alongside of the little pier, and one of the
+officers was about to spring out, when Syd shouted forth deeply as he
+could, as he stood on the breastwork.
+
+"Hallo!"
+
+The officer looked up sharply, smiled, waved his hand, gave an order to
+the sailors in the boat, and a dozen well-armed men sprang out.
+
+"_Halte_!" shouted Syd again.
+
+"_Aha_!" cried the French officer, leading his men forward.  "_Nous
+sommes des amis_."
+
+"Oh, _etes-vous_?" cried Syd.  "I dare say you are, but you can't land
+here.  Back to your boat.  _Allez-vous-en_!"
+
+"_Mais non_!" said the French officer politely, and he still came on,
+smiling.
+
+"This rock belong to his Britannic Majesty, the King of England.
+_Waistcoat a nous, Monsieur.  Allez-vous-en_."
+
+"_Mais non_," said the French officer.  "_En avant_!"
+
+"_Nous allons donner le feu_--Fire at you--Fire!" shouted Syd, and he
+leaped backward into the fort perfectly astounded.  For Strake did not
+understand French, but he thoroughly comprehended English, and as he
+heard his commanding officer say _fire_! and then more loudly, _fire_!
+he clapped his slow match to the touch-hole of the cannon, whose mouth
+was about a foot from the embrasure; there was a burst of flame and
+smoke, a deafening roar which threatened to bring down the rocks to
+right and left, and as Syd looked through the smoke he could see the
+French officer and his men running back to the boat.
+
+"Strake, you shouldn't have fired," he cried, excitedly.
+
+"You give orders," growled the boatswain; "and there was no time to
+haim.  Shot went skipping out to sea.--Be smart, my lads," he continued,
+as the men who had sprung to their places wielded sponge and rammer, and
+this time ran the gun out so that its muzzle showed over the rough
+parapet.
+
+By this time Syd had made a sign, and Rogers quickly ran the colours up
+the flagstaff, where they were blown out fully by the breeze.
+
+"Don't find fault," whispered Roylance, wiping the tears from his eyes.
+"What a game!  See that little French officer fall down?"
+
+"No."
+
+"He caught his foot in a stone.  Look at them now."
+
+Syd looked down at where on the pier the French officers were
+gesticulating and talking loudly; the gist of their debate being, should
+they try to take the battery or put off, and the majority seemed to be
+in favour of the latter proceeding.  For as they eagerly scanned the
+little battery they could see now the frowning muzzle of the gun, and
+the heads of a number of English sailors apparently ready to fire again,
+this time probably with better effect.
+
+One officer seemed to be for coming on.  The other thought evidently
+that discretion was the better part of valour, for he looked up at the
+colours on the flagstaff, then down at the battery, and then finally
+gave orders to the men to re-embark.  But this was too much for the
+spirit of the other, who after a few sharp words took out a white
+handkerchief, tied it to the blade of his sword, and held it up,
+advancing with it in his hand till he was just below the gun, and at the
+foot of the cliff wall.
+
+"Messieurs," he said, politely, "I speak not ze Angleesh as you do.  I
+you make me understand?"
+
+"_Oui_--yes," said Syd, who had again mounted the rough wall.
+
+"It is good," said the French officer.  "You make fire upon us.  Yes?"
+
+"Yes; we fired."
+
+"You--you teach me yourself, vat ze diable you make here?"
+
+"We hold this place as a possession of the King of England," replied
+Sydney.  "Can you understand?"
+
+"_Parfaitement_, sare.  Zen I tell you I go back to my sheep, and me
+come and blow you all avay.  _Au revoir_!"
+
+"_Au revoir_, Monsieur," said Syd, exchanging bows with the French
+officer, who went back to the boat, sprang on board, the men pushed off,
+and the little garrison gave them a cheer.
+
+"Thank goodness that's over," said Syd, taking off his hat to wipe his
+brow, as he leaped back into the battery.
+
+"Over?" said Roylance, "not till they have been back and blown us all
+away."
+
+"Beg pardon, sir," said the boatswain, "but I 'member now nuff of my old
+work years ago to be able to send a round shot right through that there
+boat, if you'll give the word."
+
+"No, no, Strake.--There, you keep your men ready in case they do come
+back, Roy," whispered Syd; "I'll go up and report matters to Mr
+Dallas."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FORTY TWO.
+
+"Could not have happened better," said the lieutenant, as he was put in
+possession of all particulars.  "The accident happened well, and gave
+them a lesson in our strength that may make them think twice before
+attacking us."
+
+"Then you think they will attack us?"
+
+"Sorry to say I have no doubt about it, and since I have been lying here
+I have come to the conclusion that it would be better to bring that
+upper gun down, and mount it about twenty feet from the other.  The
+attack must come from the lower end.  If, however, they could land, and
+tried to scale the rocks at the top of the gap, you would have to defend
+the upper battery the best way you could.  Even if you had a gun there
+you could not get more than one shot.  Haul it down at once."
+
+Syd went off and communicated the result of his conversation to Roylance
+and Strake.
+
+"Yes, I think he's right," said the former.  "Eh, Strake?"
+
+"Right, sir; why of course he is.  I felt that when we got the guns up,
+only it warn't for me to give my 'pinion.  Speaking in parabolas like,
+what I say is, that the t'other gun's worth twopence up there, but down
+here it 'll be worth a hundred pound or more.  Start at once, sir?"
+
+"Yes, directly.--Roylance, will you see to making a platform and running
+up a breastwork, while the bo'sun gets down the gun?"
+
+All hands were soon at work, and meanwhile Syd had gone up to the
+flagstaff with a glass to see that the boat was half-way back to the
+French frigate.
+
+"What will they do?" thought Syd.  "Make sail and come and batter us
+with their guns, or send out three or four boats?"
+
+He waited patiently till the Frenchmen were alongside, and he watched
+the officers through the glass go on the quarter-deck and make their
+report to their captain.
+
+"Now, then," said Syd, half-aloud, "which is it to be--boats, or come up
+abreast of us?"
+
+"Make sail, sir," said Rogers.  "They're coming down on us to give us a
+dusting with their guns.  There'll be some chips o' rock flying far
+to-night.--And something more for you to do, my lad," he muttered to
+himself, as he recalled the lieutenant's injury.
+
+Syd made no answer, and stood watching the French vessel's sails
+gradually begin to fill and make her careen over.
+
+"Here she comes," said Rogers; then, respectfully, "They won't have half
+time to get that gun into place, will they, sir?"
+
+"No, Rogers, no," said Syd, thoughtfully; "but look, she's changing her
+course."
+
+It was so indeed, for the French frigate curved gracefully around, and
+went off on her old course toward the town of Saint Jacques.
+
+Syd rubbed his eyes and stared, while Rogers in his excitement slapped
+both his legs, shouting derisively--"Yah!  Cowards!  G'ome!" and then
+darted to the flagstaff and began to haul the colours down a few feet,
+and just as his young officer was about to stop him, seized the second
+line and jigged them up again in a sort of dance that was intended in
+mockery of the captain and crew of the departing frigate.
+
+"That will do there," cried Syd, sharply.
+
+"Beg pardon, sir," cried the sailor, starting away from the flagstaff;
+"but for them to go away like that.  The old chaps aboard were always
+bragging that they could lick three Parlyvoos, but arter what I've seed
+to-day, I'm ready to tackle six.  I don't say I'd lick 'em, but I'd have
+a good try."
+
+"Don't judge them too soon," said Syd, quietly; and he went down to the
+hospital and reported everything to the lieutenant.
+
+"Well," he said, "what do you think of it, Mr Belton--that you've
+frightened them away with one gun?"
+
+"No, sir; I think they've gone for help."
+
+"Or else to report, and perhaps deliver despatches."
+
+"Yes, sir; think we shall have them back?"
+
+"Not a doubt about it, Mr Belton.  We laugh at and brag about our
+superiority over the Frenchmen; but with all their chatter and
+gesticulation and show, they know how to fight, and can fight bravely
+and well.  Get your other gun ready and keep the sharpest of look-outs,
+as they'll be down upon you before you know where you are.  What's the
+matter yonder," he continued, raising his head and listening; "Mr Terry
+in hot water again?  We don't want trouble among ourselves.  You are
+wanted there, commandant."
+
+Syd hurried out and found Terry up by the battery he had had in charge,
+furiously refusing to let the men under Roylance remove the gun.
+
+"Ah, you are there," he cried, savagely, and with his face convulsed
+with passion.  "It is a trick of yours to deprive me of my chance of
+distinguishing myself in this wretched hole."
+
+"It is nothing of the kind, Mr Terry," said Syd, quietly; "but are you
+mad to go on like this before the men?"
+
+"I should be mad if I held my tongue, and let every puppy of a boy be
+placed over me to insult me.  I say the gun shall not be moved."
+
+"It is for the proper defence of the place."
+
+"It is a piece of insolence to annoy me."
+
+"You would have charge of the gun in its fresh place."
+
+"I don't believe it," cried Terry, in his rage.  "This is the gun's
+place.  It shall not be moved."
+
+"Silence, sir!" cried Syd, flushing up, and something of his father's
+stern way giving him an older and firmer look.  "I gave orders for the
+gun to be taken down.  Mr Roylance, be smart with your men."
+
+"It shall not be done," cried Terry.  "I say--"
+
+"And I say, sir," said Syd in an angry whisper, "that if you are not
+silent, I'll put you in arrest; yes, and tied hand and foot for your
+treachery of an hour or two ago."
+
+Terry's jaw dropped, and he turned ashy in hue as he shrank away.
+
+"Look here, sir," continued Syd, "you will no longer have charge of that
+gun, but act under Mr Roylance's orders when I am not there.  Fight
+like a man, and do your duty, and I may forget to report your conduct to
+the captain.  Go on as you are behaving now, and everything shall be
+known."
+
+A curiously vindictive look shot from Terry's eyes as his hand
+involuntarily played with the butt of the pistol he had in his belt.
+
+Syd saw it, and continued--
+
+"Another such threat as that, sir, and you will be disarmed."
+
+Terry walked away and stood aside, gazing out to sea, while Syd could
+not help thinking that if his messmate had a favourable opportunity and
+could do it unseen, he would not scruple to use his pistol, or to push
+him over the steep cliff.
+
+The thoughts were dismissed directly and forgotten in the busy toil, the
+men rigging up the tackle, dismounting the gun, and packing it once more
+in one of the water-casks, ready for rolling down to the new platform,
+which was slowly progressing, but not yet ready for its reception.  So
+the one party was piped to refreshments, after which, the place being
+declared sufficiently advanced, the second party took the place of the
+first for rest and food, while with a cheer the gun-carriage was dragged
+below, then the tackle was rigged over it, and the gun rolled down,
+hauled into its place, and by the time darkness had quite set in, the
+fresh one-gun battery was in working order.
+
+"Where's Terry?" said Syd, about this time.
+
+"Sulking," said Roylance, laughing.  "What did you say to him?  You are
+getting an awfully great fellow, Belton, to calm him down like that.  I
+say, how old are you?"
+
+"Nearly seventeen.  Why?"
+
+"Are you sure it isn't a mistake?"
+
+"Quite."
+
+"Because you are going on over this like a fellow of twenty-seventeen.
+What do you think one of the men said just now?"
+
+"How should I know?"
+
+"He said that when this little job was over you ought to be promoted and
+have a ship of your own, and old Strake turned upon him sharply to say,
+`Well, why not?'"
+
+"I?  A ship!" laughed Syd; "and this is my first voyage.  Why, you have
+been three."
+
+"Yes, but then your people have always been sailors, and it's born with
+you.  My father's a clergyman.  Well, when you do have a ship by and by,
+if you don't have me for first luff, I'll call you a brute."
+
+"Wait twenty years, then, till I get my ship," said Syd; and he went off
+to see to the watch.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FORTY THREE.
+
+That was an anxious night; and after a sort of council of war at the
+hospital, in which the lieutenant, Roylance, and Strake took part with
+Syd, it was determined to have all ready for a retreat to the upper
+battery, and in case that should be taken, provisions and water were to
+be carried at daybreak up to the flagstaff, where a breastwork had
+already been made, plenty of broken masses of rock lying about to
+strengthen it, so that it would be a fresh position for the crew of the
+French frigate to attack.
+
+Syd was not at all surprised soon after daybreak--when the men were busy
+strengthening the empty battery, and others were building up the
+breastwork about the flagstaff and conveying up stores--to see the
+frigate coming back in full sail.
+
+There was plenty of excitement as the enemy was seen, and the men
+thoroughly realised the fact that the day's work before them would be no
+light task.
+
+"Seems to do one more good, though, Master Syd, sir," said Strake, as
+they were together alone.  "Lying down, and bein' helped, and strapped
+and lashed 's all very well, but the sight o' one's nat'ral enemy 'pears
+to spurt you up like, and if it had only been a month longer, strikes me
+as we should have had the lufftenant helping of us again."
+
+"Have you seen Mr Terry about?"
+
+"No, sir; 'pears to have struck work like.  Beg pardon, sir; but seeing
+as some on us may be gone to Davy Jones's locker 'fore night--not
+meaning you, o' course, but him--wouldn't it be handsome-like to go and
+make friends, and offer him your hand?"
+
+"I have done so more than once, Strake," said Syd, sternly, as he
+recalled the midshipman's action on the previous day, "but I can't do it
+again."
+
+"All right, sir, you knows best, o' course," said the boatswain, and he
+went off to his duty.
+
+The men worked hard, and by the time the frigate was close in there were
+the provisions and water in the upper battery, and a good supply in the
+works about the flagstaff.
+
+"You can do no more, Belton," said Mr Dallas.  "I don't want to
+discourage you, but without help from sea we can only manage to hold out
+as long as possible, and give the enemy a tough job, for Old England's
+sake.  Are the colours flying well?"
+
+"Yes, sir, splendidly."
+
+"That's right, then.  Now, one word of advice; don't fire a shot at the
+frigate.  With your two guns you can do her very little harm.  Save your
+powder for the boats--round shot when they are coming to the shore, and
+grape as they are landing.  Keep your men cool, and only let them fire
+when there is a good chance."
+
+_Bang_!
+
+The first shot from seaward followed by a crash, and the sound of stones
+falling as the frigate tried her range, and sent a heavy ball against
+the side of the gap.
+
+"Did not know she was so near," said the lieutenant.
+
+"But about you, sir?  Shall I have you carried up to the flagstaff?"
+
+"Certainly not, my lad, never mind me.  Go and do your duty.  God save
+the King!"
+
+"God save the King!" echoed Syd, as he shook hands with the lieutenant,
+and hurried down to the little battery, to find that the frigate had
+drawn as close in as she could, but dared not come right in front of the
+gap, for her boat out sounding had discovered a reef right opposite.  So
+after firing a few shots obliquely, all of which struck the north side
+of the gap, she made sail and went round to the other side of the reef,
+where disappointment again awaited her captain; for here again he could
+only fire obliquely, and send the stones rattling down on the south side
+of the gap.
+
+But he went on firing for about an hour before shifting his position
+once more, and then feeling his way in exactly opposite, but quite out
+of range.
+
+This was an unexpected change in favour of the defender, for though when
+they were freshly come it had been noticed that the sea ran high a
+quarter of a mile out from the lower end of the gap, the existence of a
+reef was not suspected, and it was some time before the defenders could
+thoroughly believe that the frigate could not get into position for
+sweeping the little gully from end to end.
+
+Again the frigate's position was changed, and fire opened.
+
+"We ought to shake hands on this," cried Roylance.  "Fire away,
+Monsieur, knock down the rocks; it's all good for the powder and ball
+trade."
+
+"And doesn't frighten us a bit," added Syd, who for the moment forgot
+his important position, and its seriousness.  "Haven't you seen Terry
+yet?"
+
+"No."
+
+"And I arn't seen my boy Pan, gen'lemen," said the boatswain--"My word,
+that was a good one," he interpolated, as a heavy shot struck the rock
+about twenty feet below the flagstaff, and a good ton of stones came
+rattling down--"strikes me as that boy's a-showing the white feather,
+gen'lemen, and it goes home to my 'art."
+
+"The boy's wounded, Strake; don't be too hard on him."
+
+"Not so bad but what he might ha' done powder-monkeying with one hand.
+But there's a deal o' vartue in rope's-ends arter all, and if I gets
+through to-day--"
+
+"You'll forgive him.  What are they doing now?"  Syd shouted to the man
+at the look-out, for the frigate was once more close in, south of the
+little pier, and had for half an hour been blazing away, but doing not
+the slightest harm.
+
+"Getting her boats out, sir."
+
+"Preparing to board, sir," cried Strake.  "Round shot first as they come
+on?"
+
+"But the boats will be close in before we can get a shot at them, and
+there will not be time to reload," said Syd.  "It is not as if they were
+going to row straight in, so that we could see them for some time first.
+It must be grape."
+
+"Grape it is, sir.  Right," cried Strake, and the guns were charged
+accordingly.
+
+The men's orders were that they should wait till the enemy were well in
+by the little pier, then to fire, and as there would not be time to
+reload, they were to seize their cutlasses and pikes and be ready for
+the attacking party, who would undoubtedly swarm up to the foot of the
+rock wall, provided with spars, or something in the way of tackle, to
+enable them to scale the place, when the desperate fighting must begin.
+
+They were not long kept in waiting after the guns had been depressed,
+and their muzzles brought to bear well upon the only spot where the
+boats could land their men--the wreck moored close in limiting the
+space.  And it turned out as Syd had imagined: the boats--three--came as
+close in as the submerged rocks would allow, and they were still out of
+sight when the defenders heard a shout, and first one and then another
+rowed into sight, making for the landing-place.  Then came the third,
+as, thinking it a pity to have to give so terrible an order, Syd shouted
+"Fire!" with the result that the closely-packed charge from the first
+gun went right through one boat, leaving her crew struggling in the
+water; and the shot from the second gun completely tore off the bows of
+the third boat, but not until her crew was so near land that they were
+able to pilot the boat a few yards farther before she sank, her men
+literally tumbling one over the other into the deck-less hull of the
+water-logged wreck.
+
+The other boat got up to the pier in safety after her crew had held out
+oars and boat-hooks to their drowning comrades, and so all got to shore;
+the rush and beating of the water, and its churning up by the grape-shot
+having scattered the sharks for the moment.
+
+All this gave the occupants of the battery more time than they had
+anticipated, and this was utilised in reloading, which was almost
+completed, when there was a word of command, a shout; and armed with
+cutlass, pistol, and boarding-pike, the Frenchmen dashed up gallantly to
+the wall, some stopping back to fire at the defenders, who were,
+however, too well sheltered to be hurt.
+
+"Be ready with your arms, my lads," cried Syd, as he recalled stories of
+fights he had heard his father relate.
+
+"Ay, ay, sir."
+
+"Throw them back as fast as they get up."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir!" came again heartily; but the enemies' heads did not
+appear above the edge, and though the loud buzzing and shouting of
+orders came up, there was no adversary.
+
+It was not the men's fault, for they were at the bottom of a vast
+natural wall, which towered up from fifteen to twenty feet, and so
+smooth that there was not the slightest foothold to enable them to
+climb.
+
+The officer who had come up to it before with a flag of truce had in his
+excitement omitted to notice the difficulty, and consequently neither
+rope nor spar had been brought; and though the men clambered and shouted
+and made brave efforts to mount upon each other's shoulders, fortunately
+for them they were not able to get up far enough to be sent down with a
+cut on the head.
+
+The shouting and confusion lasted for some time, during which the
+defenders crouched in safety behind their breastwork, and waited.
+
+At last, just as the officers were deciding upon withdrawing their men,
+and asking themselves what their fate would be if the English began to
+play upon them during their retreat to the one boat which was left,
+there was another cheer, and a reinforcement from the frigate appeared.
+
+Strake sprang up to alter the level of the gun and take aim, but Syd
+stopped him.
+
+"This one hasn't come to attack," he said, as he saw that the boat was
+only half manned; the captain having seen the misfortunes that had
+befallen his other boats, and sent this one on to afford his men a means
+of retreat.
+
+For the attack was hopeless, and the officers gathered their men
+together, and despatched them in two parties to the little pier, the men
+moving with the greatest of regularity; and while a few kept up a
+running fire against the battery, the others embarked.
+
+"Now then, sir, give the word," whispered Strake, who was hoarse with
+excitement; "I can send a shot right through that there boat."
+
+"What for?" said Syd, coldly.  "They are retreating, and we don't want
+to stop them and make them prisoners."
+
+"But they're our mortial enemies, sir," cried the boatswain, aghast.
+
+"Let them go," said Syd; and as the boats pushed off, with the frigate
+recommencing its useless fire to cover the retreat, the defenders of the
+little natural fort gave a hearty cheer.
+
+"We don't want a lot of bloodshed, Roy," said Syd, as they congratulated
+one another over the refreshment they were glad to take.
+
+"No; but I suppose we ought to have slaughtered a lot of them.  We
+could."
+
+"My father used to tell my uncle, the admiral, that he was the greatest
+commander who could achieve a victory with the smallest loss of life."
+
+"Yes, sir," said a gruff voice behind him; "but I've know'd your father
+send some awful broadsides and rakings into the enemy's ships.  Why,
+when we've gone aboard arter to take the furren captain's sword, I've
+seed their deck all slippery with blood."
+
+"And I'm glad those stones are not."
+
+"Very well, sir, if you're satisfied, I am; but I want to know what's
+gone o' my Pan.  Hasn't hidden hisself in that water-cave, has he?"
+
+"I have not seen him," said Syd, and with Roylance he climbed up to the
+flagstaff to see the enemy's two crowded boats return to the frigate's
+side, after which the French captain made a slight change in his
+position; and as they watched they saw two fresh boats lowered and row
+away, and then they were recalled.
+
+Then came a long spell of waiting in miserable inaction till toward
+sunset, when the two boats put out again, spent a little time sounding
+close up to the rocks where Roylance was rescued, and were again
+recalled.
+
+"What does that mean, sir?" said Syd, as he told all this to the
+lieutenant, who, as he lay helpless, eagerly listened to every word.
+
+"I don't quite see, my lad," he said.  "A trick, probably, to take off
+your attention.  But be well on your guard, for, depend upon it, they
+will try to surprise you to-night, and come prepared with ladders of
+some kind for the escalade."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FORTY FOUR.
+
+The night was brilliant starlight, and the strictest watch was kept, but
+hour after hour went by, and there was not a sound; no dark shadow
+creeping over the water from the frigate, which lay anchored, with her
+lights showing reflections on the smooth sea.
+
+Everything was in readiness to give the enemy a good reception if they
+came, and in spite of his weakness, the boatswain rose from where he lay
+on a folded-up sail beside one of the heaps of ball, to see if the light
+in the lanthorn by his head was burning, and handy for the slow matches
+to fire the guns.
+
+"That there swab has gone down into his old hole by the water, sir, so
+as to save his skin," said Strake, on one of the occasions when Syd was
+going his rounds, "and here he might be o' no end of use saving his poor
+father.  You won't say I arn't to use the rope's-end arter this, sir."
+
+"Hadn't you better go up to the hospital and lie down, Strake?" replied
+Syd; "you are tired out."
+
+"So are you, sir: so's all on us.  But if I went and had a caulk just
+when the enemy might come, what should I say arterwards when I met the
+skipper?"
+
+"But your injuries are such as sent you into hospital."
+
+"Where I warn't going to stay, sir.  Been up to the flagstaff, sir?"
+
+"I have just come from there, and I have been with Mr Roylance, and had
+a talk with Mr Dallas.  All's well."
+
+"Seems well, Mr Syd, sir," whispered the boatswain, so as not to be
+heard by the men; "but I'm sure all aren't well.  They're trying to
+dodge us, sir, and you see if they don't come and board us just afore
+daylight, when they think we're asleep.  Tell them chaps at the look-out
+to keep their eyes open, and be on the kwe weave, as the Frenchies call
+it, for boats sneaking up in the dark.  You've got two there."
+
+"Yes, Strake, and each man has a glass, and those very instructions."
+
+"What a horficer he will make," muttered the boatswain; and then the
+watch went on, with the men peering through the transparent darkness at
+the waves heaving over the little natural pier, and the bright stars
+broken up into spangles on the smooth surface of the sea.
+
+"Rather queer about Terry," said Roylance in a whisper, as Syd joined
+him where he was leaning over the rough parapet, watching the surface
+for the first sign of the enemy.
+
+"Very," said Syd.
+
+"I can't understand it."
+
+"I can," thought Syd, as he recalled what he had seen; and in the full
+belief that his messmate was heartily ashamed of his treacherous conduct
+of the previous day, he went softly up to find the lieutenant sleeping
+peacefully.  He stood looking at him for a few moments, and then went up
+to the empty battery, to stand looking down over the precipice, before
+gazing up towards the flagstaff.
+
+"All well, Rogers?" he said in a low, distinct voice.
+
+"All well, sir," came back from far on high.  "Nothing left the ship.
+We could ha' seen by the broken water.  It brimes to-night, and we
+should have seen their oars stirring the water up."
+
+Note: "brimes" means "is phosphorescent."
+
+Syd went thoughtfully back, feeling so exhausted and drowsy that twice
+over he stumbled, and shook his head to get rid of the sleepy feeling,
+for it had been a terribly trying and anxious time.
+
+"I'll go and talk to Strake," he said to himself; and pulling out a
+biscuit, he began to nibble it to take off the sensation of faintness
+from which he suffered, as he began wondering whether the French would
+attack them that night, or come prepared the next day with ladders to
+scale the natural wall which was their chief defence.
+
+"All well, Strake?" he said, as he reached the place again where the
+boatswain was lying down.
+
+"Ay, ay, sir."
+
+"Halt! who goes there?"
+
+"On'y me," cried a hoarse, excited voice, in a whisper, accompanied by a
+panting noise.  "Where's father?"
+
+"What, Pan-y-mar?" growled the boatswain.  "Just you come here, you
+ugly-looking young swab."
+
+"Hush, father!" whispered the boy, coming out of the darkness.  "Give's
+a cutlash; the French is coming."
+
+"What?  Where?" said Syd, eagerly.  "To your guns, my lads."
+
+"No, no," cried the boy, in a hurried whisper.  "Not that way; they're
+coming over the top there."
+
+"He's been dreaming," growled the boatswain.  "What d'yer mean, you
+dog?"
+
+"I arn't been asleep," cried Pan, angrily; "and I'm so hungry."
+
+"Tell me: what do you mean?" cried Syd.
+
+"I've been a-watching o' Mr Terry, sir.  He went down on the rocks over
+yonder, and I lay down and see him make signs to the French ship, and
+two boats come out and rowed in close to where he was a-hiding down in
+one o' them big cracks like I hid in and found the water."
+
+"Yes; go on," whispered Syd, whose heart sank with apprehension.
+
+"And he talked to 'em, and they talked to him, and then rowed back to
+the French ship."
+
+"What did they say?"
+
+"I dunno; I was too far off to hear."
+
+"Well, go on."
+
+"I thought he was up to some game, and I lay there and watched him, and
+I've been watching of him ever since, till to-night he crawled into the
+stores, after hiding all yes' afternoon and to-night, and I see him come
+creeping out again with a rope, and he put it over his shoulder.  And
+then he climbed up one o' those cracks, and I went arter him, and he got
+right out there past the water-hole, and then crep' all along till he
+got to the place where you hauled Mr Roylance and t'other sailor up
+with a rope.  And I crep' up close as I could, and lay there watching
+him hours till three boats come round from the other side, and then Mr
+Terry tied the end of the rope round a big block, and let the other end
+down, and I see a French sailor come up, and then another, and another,
+and they let down more rope, and they're all climbed up, and they're
+coming right up yonder over the top by the flag-post."
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"'Cos I come that way first, and they was all coming close up arter me
+all the time, and I had to come on my hands and knees."
+
+"Why didn't you come the other way, and give the alarm in front?"
+
+"'Cos they've got lots o' fellows there with swords and pistols.  I
+heard 'em cock."
+
+"Yah! it's all a fancy," growled Strake; "he's scared, and dreamed it."
+
+"I didn't," cried the boy.
+
+"Couldn't climb up there," growled Strake.
+
+"Yes, they could, Strake," cried Syd, excitedly.  "Once they were on the
+rock they could climb up, and--yes, they'd come over by the flagstaff."
+
+"I tell yer the young swab dreamt it."
+
+"Ahoy! help!"
+
+_Bang! bang!  Bang! bang_!--Pistol-shots from high up by the flagstaff;
+and as the men seized their cutlasses and pistols, and, with Syd and
+Roylance at their head, advanced up the gap to meet this treacherous
+attack from the rear, there was the clash of steel, the sounds of
+struggling, then a momentary silence, followed by a few sharp orders,
+and the rattling noise of stones told that a strong party of men were
+coming down the rough path from the flagstaff.
+
+"Forward, my lads!" cried Roy lance; "we may beat them back."
+
+The men gave a cheer, and advanced quickly, the excitement of all taking
+them from the battery, which was left defenceless.
+
+As they advanced, the old feeling of terror that he had always felt when
+about to engage in a school-fight was for a few moments in Sydney's
+breast; then the eager excitement carried all away, and, sword in hand,
+he ran on with his men.
+
+Directly after there was the shock and confusion of the two parties
+meeting, with stray shots, the clatter of sword against sword, with
+sparks flying in the darkness, and the shouts and cheers of contending
+men.
+
+What he did Syd never knew, for everything was centred in the one idea
+that he was leading his father's men, and that he must try and be brave.
+And if being brave meant rushing on with them right at the descending
+Frenchmen, he was brave enough.
+
+So vigorous was the rush, and so desperate were the little English party
+at being surprised in so sudden a fashion, that the first group of the
+enemy were driven backward toward the path by which they had climbed
+down.  But more and more were hurrying from above to their help, the
+officers threw themselves to the front, and the flight was stayed, while
+quite a series of single combats began to take place.
+
+"Give it 'em, boys!  Old England for ever!" was yelled out in the
+darkness, close by to where Syd was cutting and thrusting at an active
+little Frenchman.  Then there came a groan, and the same voice said
+hoarsely--
+
+"Oh, if I had my strength!"
+
+"Hurrah, boys! they're giving way!" shouted Roylance.  "Keep together,
+and over with them."
+
+For in spite of the bravery of their officers, the French were yielding
+ground once more, and being slowly driven up the narrowing path.  But
+there was a fresh burst of cheering, the hurry of feet, and about twenty
+of the French frigate's crew, who had taken advantage of the little
+garrison being attacked from the rear, and crept up to the cliff wall to
+scale it with a spar, one man going up with a rope which he had secured
+to a gun, soon turned the tables again.
+
+With enemies before and behind triple their strength, and taking them in
+each case so thoroughly by surprise, the _melee_ did not last long.  Syd
+was conscious of seeing sparks after what seemed to be a loud clap of
+thunder above his head, and the next thing he knew was that Roylance was
+saying--
+
+"Belt, lad, do, do try and speak."
+
+"Speak? yes," he faltered.  "What's the matter?"
+
+"Matter! don't ask."
+
+"But what does it mean?  Where are we?  Has Terry won?"
+
+"My poor old fellow, you haven't been fighting Terry--yes, you have--a
+coward! he is with the French."
+
+"And--" cried Syd, sitting up, "are we beaten?"
+
+"Yes! no!" cried Roylance.  "They're all down or prisoners--but eight of
+us here."
+
+"Where are we?" said Syd, who felt sick and dizzy.
+
+"Up in the little top battery, and they're coming on again.  Stand by,
+lads!"
+
+Syd rose to his feet as the men cheered, and stood with his sword
+hanging by the knot to his wrist, holding on by the rough stone wall,
+looking over into the starlit gloom at a body of French sailors
+apparently about to attack.  Just then an officer stepped forward, and
+said, cheerily--
+
+"_Rendez-vous, mes braves.  Parlez, vous_!" he continued, turning to
+some one at his side.
+
+"Here, you there!--the French officer says it's no use to fight any
+longer; he has taken the place, so give up."
+
+"Terry!" cried Roylance; "you miserable traitor!" and the men around
+burst into a loud groan, and hooted the renegade.
+
+"Yes, traitor!" cried Syd, excitedly; and forgetting his wound,
+"coward!"
+
+"Coward yourself!" cried Terry.  "Do you think I was going to stay in a
+service which compelled men to serve under a contemptible boy like you?
+Here, my lads, it's no use to resist.  Give up, and you will have good
+treatment as prisoners.  Come out."
+
+"Do you hear, lads?" cried Roylance.  "Will you do as the new
+English-French deserter says?"
+
+"No!" roared the men; and Rogers' voice rose above them--"Say, lads,
+it's yard-arm for a desarter, eh?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+Terry turned away savagely, and they saw him saying something to the
+French officer--saw him dimly, as it seemed, then more plainly, for day
+was breaking with the rapidity of the change in the tropics; and as a
+movement took place, they all knew that a final assault was to be given,
+and must go against them.
+
+Then the spirit of Syd's family seemed to send a flush through him; he
+forgot his pain, the sickness passed off, and he turned to gaze on the
+torn and blood-stained men about him.
+
+"French and English," he cried, raising his sword.
+
+"Hurray!" shouted the brave fellows; and every cutlass flashed as they
+prepared to defend their tiny stronghold, built up for the very
+emergency in which they were.
+
+"_Rendez, messieurs_!" shouted the French officer, half appealingly.
+
+"_Non, non_!" shouted Sydney, excitedly.
+
+"_En avant_!" rang out the order, and with a rush the men came on in the
+rapidly increasing morning light.
+
+At that moment the rocks echoed and quivered as a heavy gun thundered
+forth.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FORTY FIVE.
+
+The advance was checked, and a man ran up to the flagstaff, to reach it
+at last, and then he shouted down something in French, which the
+occupants of the upper defence could not make out.
+
+A second gun rolled forth its summons, and, giving an order, the French
+officer led his men toward the lower battery, where about twenty were
+halted, and busied themselves in turning one of the guns, so that it was
+pointed toward the upper battery, while the rest went down over the
+wall.
+
+"What does it mean?" said Syd.  "Are they going to blow us out of here?"
+
+"No," said Roylance, "I think not.  It is to occupy the place and keep
+us at bay.  I'd give something to see what it all means.  We're so shut
+up here, and can see nothing," he said, fretfully.
+
+And it was so.  They had a good view of the sea right out toward the
+town, but looking back they could see along the gap to their guns, which
+with the breastwork completely hid the landing-place.
+
+"I'd give something to know what it all means."
+
+"That gun meant the recall," said Roylance.
+
+"If I could get to the flagstaff," said Syd.
+
+"I think I could slip over at the back here," said Rogers; "climb along,
+and then crawl up."
+
+"No, no, my lad; you'd break your neck."
+
+"Oh, no, sir.  You trust me."
+
+"He can climb like a monkey, sir," said another of the men, who was
+binding up a wound.
+
+"Then try," said Syd, after a glance upward to see that the French were
+not there.
+
+The man slipped over the back directly, and crept along a narrow ledge
+that made them all feel giddy, but he got along in safety, and then
+creeping and climbing to the left of the regular path he disappeared in
+a rift.
+
+"He'll do it now," said Roylance, who stood nursing one arm.  "I say,
+Belt, as soon as you can I should be glad of a little help."
+
+"Yes, I'll come directly," said Sydney; "but where are our other
+fellows?"
+
+"All wounded or prisoners.  The French have had the best of it this
+time.  We shall be prisoners of war, lad."
+
+"I wouldn't care, only we've lost the place, Roylance.  Oh, how could an
+English fellow be so treacherous!"
+
+"Don't know," said Roylance, dismally.  "There always was something
+wrong with Mike Terry."
+
+"Ahoy!" came from above their heads; and they looked up to see that
+Rogers had reached the flagstaff, and had hauled up the British colours,
+which blew out in the morning air as a faint cheer came from the
+hospital, and an angry chattering from about the guns.
+
+"Sail ho!  _Sirius_ in sight," shouted Rogers through his hands; "boat's
+gone back to the Frenchman.  Hurray!"
+
+He was answered by a cheer from the little group about Syd, as three of
+the French sailors ran up at a trot, and began to mount the flagstaff
+path.
+
+"Look out, Rogers.  Don't be taken."
+
+"Not I, sir.  I'm coming back," shouted the sailor; and he disappeared,
+leaving the colours flying, and climbing back into the sturdy little
+work in time to join his companions in a loud groaning.  For the French
+reached the top and hauled the British colours down, one of the enemy
+waving them derisively at the Englishmen, and throwing the flag over his
+shoulder as he laughed at them, and then carried it down to the battery,
+where his comrades had been strengthening their works toward the English
+position, one man standing ready with a port-fire to sweep the gap
+should there be an attack.
+
+Two hours' waiting ensued--two weary hours, with injuries growing stiff,
+wounds smarting, and a terrible feeling of thirst coming on.  That was
+forgotten directly the heavy boom of a gun was heard, answered by
+another; and for a time, as report after report echoed among the rocks,
+the imprisoned party saw in imagination the _Sirius_ coming slowly up
+and attacking the French frigate, which answered with shot for shot.
+But it was most tantalising; and again and again Syd was for climbing up
+to the flagstaff to see what was going on, duty to the men alone keeping
+him to his post.
+
+Their patience was rewarded at last, for Roylance suddenly gave a cheer,
+which was taken up by the others, as they saw the French frigate, her
+sails dotted with shot-holes, forge into sight, firing hard the while.
+
+"Why, she's beaten--retreating," cried Sydney.
+
+"No, only manoeuvring," replied Roylance; "and, hurrah! my lads, here
+comes the _Sirius_."
+
+Syd's heart gave a leap as his father's noble frigate came slowly into
+sight round the south end of the gap, bringing with her a cloud of smoke
+which was rent and torn with flames of fire.  For the next hour, there,
+a mile away, the frigates lay manoeuvring and exchanging their
+broadsides, neither appearing to get the upper hand.
+
+Two of the French officers were now up at the flagstaff, where they had
+hoisted their own colours, and they were eagerly watching the varying
+fortunes of the naval action, which, as far as the lookers-on could see,
+might result in the favour of either.  The firing was terrific, and for
+the time being the occupants of the fort forgot their enmity in the
+excitement of the naval engagement going on.
+
+A wild shrill cheer suddenly rose from by the flagstaff, answered by a
+shout of defiance from the English battery, as all at once the
+mizzen-topmast of the _Sirius_ with its well-filled sails bowed over as
+if doubled-up; but the loss did not check the firing nor her way, and
+the shrill cheer was silenced.  For in the midst of the French elation,
+and as the course of the frigate was changed so that she might cross the
+bows of the _Sirius_ and rake her, two more of the officers had gone up
+from by the guns, and were mounting the path to the flagstaff to
+participate in the triumph.  They were in time to see the mainmast of
+the French frigate, already sorely wounded, yield to a puff of wind and
+go right over to leeward, leaving the beautiful ship helpless like a
+sea-bird with a broken wing.
+
+Captain Belton quickly took advantage of the position, raked the
+Frenchman from stem to stern, ran his own vessel close up under her
+quarter, and as the smoke rolled away a crowd of boarders were seen
+pouring over on to her decks, the shouts and cheering of the fighting
+reaching to the ears of the spectators.
+
+"We've taken her," cried Roylance, exultingly, and he was about to call
+upon the men to cheer when a look from Syd silenced him.
+
+"Quick, lads!" he whispered.  "In two parties.  I'll lead one, Mr
+Roylance the other.  We'll divide and run down to the guns and take them
+before they know where they are.  Hist, not a sound!  Now!"
+
+The officers were still gazing directly away at the concluding episodes
+of the fight, so that only one was down at the battery, whose occupants
+were so taken by surprise, that before the junior lieutenant left had
+given the order to fire the Englishmen were half-way to them.  Then as a
+cannon sent its charge of grape hurtling up the narrow pass, the two
+little parties cheered, dashed on, jumped over the rough wall cutlass in
+hand, and in less than a minute the place was once more in English
+hands.
+
+"More prisoners than we want," said Syd; but they were soon got rid of,
+being disarmed, and compelled to lower themselves down a rope to the
+foot of the great natural wall, where they were huddling together, a
+discontented-looking group, when Syd had taken the swords of the other
+French officers and sent the British colours flying once more from the
+flagstaff.
+
+The French lieutenant shrugged his shoulders as he handed his sword to
+Syd.
+
+"_Ah, vous anglais_!" he muttered, and then to one of his companions in
+French--
+
+"It is of no use to try any longer.  The men from the English frigate
+will be ashore directly.  But to be beaten by that boy!"
+
+He was quite right.  Before an hour had elapsed two well-manned boats
+from the _Sirius_ was at the landing-place to take possession and charge
+of the prisoners, while in another hour Syd was standing before his
+father, giving him an account of all that had been done.
+
+Captain Belton listened almost grimly to his son's narrative, and when
+he had finished--
+
+"Well, sir," said the captain; "and what have you to say for yourself?
+You went ashore without leave.  Of course you will be punished."
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Where are Mr Roylance and Mr Terry?"
+
+"Ashore, sir, wounded both."
+
+"And Mr Dallas badly, I hear.  Tut--tut--tut! and I have a terrible
+array of losses to confront here.  Well, you have something else to
+say?"
+
+Syd was hesitating, for he had a painful duty to perform.  Had he been
+the only holder of the knowledge of his messmate's treachery, he would
+have held his tongue: but it was known to all on shore, and he told
+everything.
+
+"Go now," said the father, "I am too busy to say more.  You can stay on
+board; I will give orders for a fresh party to occupy the rock."
+
+Syd thought his father might have forgotten the captain a little more at
+their encounter, and given him a word of praise; but he smothered his
+feelings, and joined his messmates in the gun-room, for the middies'
+quarters were horribly occupied just then by the doctors.
+
+He had stared aghast at the shattered aspect of the deck and rigging,
+and seen that the French frigate was no better, and then learned that
+which he was longing to hear.
+
+It was a simple matter; the gale they had felt on the rock had grown
+into a hurricane outside, and in the midst of it both the _Sirius_ and
+her consort were cast ashore on one of the coral islands far out of the
+regular track of ships.
+
+There they had been ever since, till by clever scheming and
+indefatigable work, Captain Belton had got his frigate off, literally
+carving a little canal for her from where she lay to the open water.
+For his consort was a hopeless wreck, and he had the help of a second
+crew.
+
+As soon as they were clear, Captain Belton made sail for the rock again,
+to arrive only just in time.
+
+The wreck had given him one advantage, though: he had the crews of both
+frigates on board, and several extra guns which he had saved.
+
+It was nearly dark when the boat from the shore arrived with the wounded
+and the remnant of the brave defenders of the rock, and a warm welcome
+was accorded them; the two little middies, Bolton and Jenkins, who had
+nearly gone mad over Syd, seeming to complete the process with Roylance,
+who got away from them as soon as possible to draw Sydney aside.
+
+"Seen him?" he said, in a low tone.
+
+"Whom--Mr Dallas?  Yes."
+
+"No, no; Terry."
+
+"No; nor do I want to."
+
+"Yes; go and see him, poor wretch."
+
+"If I do he'll accuse me of being the cause of all his trouble."
+
+"No, no; I've shaken hands with him."
+
+"Shaken hands?"
+
+"Why not?  My father is a clergyman.  I want to recollect something of
+what he taught me."
+
+"But with a man like that, even if he is wounded?"
+
+"But, poor fellow! he's dying."
+
+"What!" cried Syd.
+
+"Don't you know?"
+
+Syd shook his head.  He felt half suffocated.
+
+"In that last scuffle when we took back the battery, he was one of the
+fellows we drove over the side.  I didn't know it then.  No one did till
+he was picked up from where he crouched.  The doctor has gone to him
+now."
+
+Syd hurried away, and after a time was able to find his old messmate
+lying where he had been left by the surgeon, side by side with one of
+the many wounded who filled the lower decks.
+
+There was a lanthorn swinging overhead, and Syd started as he saw the
+ghastly change in the young man's countenance.
+
+He could not think of enmity or treachery at such a moment as that, but
+went close up.
+
+"Terry," he said, "I'm sorry it has come to this."
+
+The midshipman's face lit up, and he feebly raised his hand.
+
+"Better so," he said, in a faint whisper.  "Good-bye."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FORTY SIX.
+
+They knew in the midshipman's little company that night how Michael
+Terry had died, and the frank-hearted lads joined in saying they were
+glad he had died from his fall, and not from a wound given by an English
+blade.  And somehow, though it was known to all now, not a voice uttered
+a word about his treachery.  The terrible fate that had overtaken him
+had come as a veil over all that.
+
+For the next few days, as they lay there to leeward of the rock, Syd and
+Roylance used to look up at the colours flying from the flagstaff, and
+feel something like regret that they were no longer living in the gap;
+but there was endless work to do.  The captain had transferred his less
+fortunate brother officer and crew to the French frigate, and on board
+both vessels the knotting, splicing, and repairing that went on was
+enormous, while the carpenters and their mates had the busiest of times.
+
+One of the first things done after hospital tents had been rigged up in
+the gap, was for all the wounded to be transferred to the shore; the
+garrison was strengthened, provisions and stores landed, a surgeon put
+in charge, and the _Sirius_ with the prize set sail for the nearest
+British possession to land their prisoners.
+
+In a week they were back off the rock, and after communications, sailed
+on for Saint Jacques; the French frigate, in spite of being minus one
+mast, making fair way under the jury spar set up, and, thanks to the
+vigorous efforts made in the way of repairs, in excellent fighting trim,
+and with her crew eager to make up in the end for the loss of their own
+ship.
+
+Syd had been out of the naval engagement, but he was now to witness a
+bold attack made upon a fortified port--a successful attack, the
+batteries being pretty well demolished, and the force of sailors and
+marines that was landed carrying all before them, so that in one short
+day the British flag waved over the town of Saint Jacques, and the
+island of La Haute became one of the possessions of the British Crown.
+
+After refitting, the _Sirius_ did good work in the western seas for two
+years before she was ordered home, where upon the captain landing at
+Shoreport, it was known that he was promoted to the command of a
+line-of-battle ship, while sundry honours were ready for his officers,
+notably for Mr Dallas, who had long been well and strong.
+
+"Yes, Strake," said Roylance, "promotion for every one but the poor
+midshipman."
+
+"Wait a bit, sir, wait a bit," said the bronzed old fellow.  "'Tain't
+fault o' gover'ment, but fault o' natur'.  Soon as you and Mr Belton
+here grows big enough you'll be lufftenants, and then captains; and if
+that swab of a boy of mine minds his eye he'll be a bo'sun."
+
+"You'll lay up now, I suppose?" said Roylance.
+
+"Me, sir? me lay up?" cried the boatswain, indignantly.  "Not the man.
+No, sir, I hope to sail yet with young Capen Belton when the old capen's
+a admiral, as he's sure to be afore long."
+
+"Seems a long time to wait for promotion," said Syd.
+
+"Awful, sir, to a young gent who has only been two years at sea.  But--
+whish, sir!  Look!"
+
+Syd, who was leaning over the side with Roylance, gazing at the town,
+started with pleasure, for in the stern-sheets of the barge, which was
+coming back from shore with the captain, who was returning to take leave
+of his officers before quitting the _Sirius_ for good, was the
+grey-whiskered, florid face of Admiral Belton.
+
+He came on board, bowing to the salutes given him, and then looking
+round sharply, he exclaimed--
+
+"Now then, where's that doctor?"
+
+"Here, uncle," cried Syd, merrily.
+
+"Why!  Well!  Hang the boy, I shouldn't have known you.  You have grown!
+Shake hands, you dog!  I'm proud of you.  I know all about it.  I say,"
+he said with a chuckle, "don't want to be a doctor now, eh?"
+
+"Saving your honour's presence," growled a deep voice, "I dunno what we
+should ha' done if he hadn't been one."
+
+"Hah! bo'sun, you there.  Glad to see you.  Do you follow my brother to
+his new ship?"
+
+"Ay, ay, sir; please goodness, and Mr Belton here, too."
+
+"No," said Captain Belton, quietly.  "My son is going for a cruise with
+Commander Dallas in the sloop-of-war to which he has been appointed."
+
+"Then, saving your honour's presence, and thinking of you as the best
+captain I ever served, if it could be managed, I'd like to sail under
+Mr Dallas too, and I'll take my boy."
+
+"You shall, Strake; and I'm very glad."
+
+So six months after Sydney Belton joined the sloop _Ariel_, and this
+time saw active, service in the eastern seas.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Syd Belton, by George Manville Fenn
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