glory which would, if
the voyage was successful, attach to each member of the crew. All
were full of fun, and took what came to them, in the way of work,
so good temperedly and cheerfully, that the men soon ceased to give
them work for work's sake.

They were, too, a strong and well-built group of boys. Ned was by a
full year the youngest, and by nigh a head the shortest of them;
but his broad shoulders and sturdy build, and the strength acquired
by long practice in swimming and rowing, made him their equal.

There were, however, no quarrels among them, and their strength
they agreed to use in alliance, if need be, should any of the crew
make a dead set at one or other of them; for even in an expedition
like this there must be some brutal, as well as many brave men.
There were assuredly two or three, at least, of those on board the
Swanne who might well be called brutal. They were for the most part
old hands, who had lived on board ship half their lives, had taken
part in the slave traffic of Captain Hawkins, and in the
buccaneering exploits of the earlier commanders. To them the voyage
was one in which the lust of gold was the sole stimulant; and,
accustomed to deeds of bloodshed, what feelings they ever had had
become utterly blunted, and they needed but the power to become
despotic and brutal masters.

The chief among these was Giles Taunton, the armorer He was a
swarthy ruffian, who hid, beneath the guise of a jovial bonhomie, a
cruel and unfeeling nature. He was ever ready to cuff and beat the
boys, on the smallest provocation.

They soon gathered together, in a sort of defensive league, against
their common oppressors. All four were high-spirited lads. The
other three, indeed, were sons of men of substance in Devon, whose
fathers had lent funds to Captain Drake for the carrying out of his
great enterprise. They therefore looked but ill on the kicks and
curses which, occasionally, fell to their lot.

One day they gathered together round the bowsprit, and talked over
what they should do. Gerald Summers, the eldest of the party,
proposed that they should go in a body to Captain Drake, and
complain of the tyranny to which they were subject. After some
talk, however, all agreed that such a course as this would lower
them in the estimation of the men, and that it would be better to
put up with the ill treatment than, to get the name of tell tales.

Ned then said to the others:

"It seems to me that, if we do