he bulwarks of the _Tigress_ and in the tops of the
man-of-war.

"Now we are fairly off," Edgar said, "what do your written instructions
say?"

"I am to go to Rhodes, there to make inquiries of the port authorities
as to any outrages that have been lately reported, and to be guided by
what I hear. In fact, the matter is left entirely in my hands, after we
once get there. I don't know how we had better divide the watches. It
would hardly be the thing for me, as skipper, to take a watch, and yet
that would be the most satisfactory way of arranging it. I could take
the gunner and you the boatswain. In fact, I think it would be
ridiculous to work it in any other way."

"Just as you like, Wilkinson, but I have no doubt that the boatswain
would do just as well or better than I should."

"No, I will take a watch, at any rate until we see how the petty
officers get on. It is ticklish navigation among these islands, and I
certainly should not feel comfortable if neither you nor I were on deck.
There is the _Tigre_ fairly under way, steering south by west. We are
walking along, ain't we? This breeze just suits her, and she is a very
different craft now to what she was when we overhauled her, laden down
pretty nearly to her covering-board. I don't think, in a breeze like
this, that the _Tigre_ would be able to catch us, although, of course,
if the wind strengthened much her weight would tell. However, there is
no doubt at all that this craft is fast. I hope ere long we shall try
our speed against one of these pirates. I expect that off the wind with
those big lateen sails of theirs they are very fast, but on the wind
they would have no chance with us. When we get away from Rhodes we will
disguise her a bit, put a yellow streak to her, and give her the look of
a trader. They are much more likely to find us than we are to find
them."

"Where are we to send our prizes, that is, if we take any?"

"If they are small craft we are to burn them, but if we take any that
would be likely to be of use to the chief in the blockade we are to sell
them. Any prisoners we take we are to hand over to the pasha at Smyrna
if they are Moslems; if they are Greeks, the fewer prisoners we take the
better. It would be infinitely more merciful to shoot them down in fair
fight than to hand them over to the tender mercies of the Turks, but Sir
Sidney said that he would largely leave the matter to my discretion. I
would rather that he had given me posi