e required to capture it, and he continued playing it a
considerable time, before he ventured to haul it up to the boat. On
getting it on board he found that the hook was twisted, and some more
time was employed in putting on a new one. Thus eager in and occupied
with the sport, Dick did not observe that the boat was slowly drifting
along the reef, away from the entrance, by which alone he could regain
the shore. The wind was also increasing, though as the sea was smooth
he did not discover this. At length, looking up, he observed the
position of the boat, and on going to the bows, found that the cable was
slack and the stone no longer at the end of it. It had been cut
through. Quickly hauling in the cable and the fish-lines, and telling
Charley to take the oar to steer, he began pulling hard to regain the
passage through the reefs. A strong current was, however, against him,
as was the wind, which had shifted slightly, and though he exerted
himself to the utmost, he could make no way.

"I have been so long ashore that I have forgotten my seamanship, and
have done a very lubberly thing," he said, as he tugged away. All his
efforts were of no avail to urge the heavy tub-like boat against the
forces opposed to her. She drifted farther and farther away from the
land, and the farther she got the more she felt the influence of the
breeze; while the sea also, though smooth near the land, began to tumble
and toss in a way which made Dick feel more uncomfortable than he had
ever before been in his life. The wind at the time blew only a moderate
gale, but he could not help acknowledging that the craft he had been so
proud of was very ill able to contend with the heavy sea which was
rapidly getting up.

"There's no help for it, and I don't want the craft to capsize. I must
run before the breeze, and may be it will shift, and we shall be able to
get back again--but if not! well, I won't think of that," said Dick, to
himself. "I must keep my own spirits up, for Charley's sake. It will
be hard, however, for the poor little chap to lose his life after being
saved from the sinking ship and those villainous pirates. For myself I
don't care; I have well known ever since I came to sea that any day what
happens to so many might happen to me."

The heavy boat, though flat-bottomed, behaved better than might have
been expected. Dick, who had taken the helm, steered carefully, keeping
right before the seas. As he had not co