th ideas, all, that is to say, except Mr Dale, who,
with elbows on the table, his head buried in his hands, and his hair all
rumpled, abandoned himself to despair and to loud bewailings of the
unfortunate combination of circumstances which led to his venturing upon
the treacherous ocean. The others, however, knew him thoroughly by this
time; and none troubled themselves to take the slightest notice of him
except Rex Fortescue, who exclaimed--

"_Do_ shut up, Dale, and cease making a fool of yourself. I wonder that
you are not ashamed to behave in this unmanly way, especially before
ladies, too. If you _can't_ keep quiet, you know, we shall have to put
you on deck, where I fancy you would get something worth howling about."

This threat had the desired effect; Mr Dale subsided into silence, and
the rest of the party at once, in low cautious tones, began an
interchange of ideas which lasted a long time but brought forth no very
satisfactory result; the council finding itself at the close of the
discussion pretty much where it was at the commencement.

At one o'clock a thoroughly substantial dinner was served to them,
followed by tea at six in the evening, at both of which meals the pirate
captain did the honours with a manifest desire to evince a friendly
disposition toward his guests, and about nine p.m. a quiet and
unobtrusive removal from the cabin to their new quarters in the after-
hold was effected; after which most of the party disposed themselves
comfortably upon the bedding which they found had been provided for
them, and enjoyed a night of thoroughly sound repose, such as they had
been strangers to ever since the destruction of the _Galatea_.

When our friends awoke on the following morning they became aware, by
the motion of the ship and the sound of the water gurgling along her
sides, that a breeze had sprung up. Most of the gentlemen--all of them,
in fact, except Dale--went on deck, and, finding the watch busy washing
decks, borrowed of them a few buckets with which they gave each other a
most hearty and refreshing salt water douche, much to the amusement of
the crew.

As soon as breakfast was over, Lance, with that cool _insouciance_
characteristic of the man who has so often found himself environed by
perils that he ceases to think of them, went again on deck, with the
intention of mingling freely with the pirate crew, and, if possible,
placing himself upon such easy terms with them as would give hi