rwards,
and come and blame me."

"No fear, Bob," said Carey, speaking with some confidence now.

"You see, sir, that old ruffian says that he'll blow the old _Soosan_
up, and it may be solemn truth, and same time it may be only gammon; but
it makes a man feel anxious like and think o' our raft and the
whale-boat Old King Cole come in, and think he'd rather be aboard one o'
them than stopping here."

"Retreating to the boat, Bob?"

"Yes, sir, or else chancing it, and that last aren't pleasant. I think
we ought to say, `Look here, my fine fellow, two can play at that game
o' yours,' and get a tin o' powder, put a bit o' touch paper through the
neck, set light to it, and chuck it down the stairs and blow him to
smithereens first."

"And explode the magazine ourselves if there is one?" cried Carey.

"Well, I _ham_ blessed!" cried Bostock. "I never thought o' that!
Anyone would think I was an Irishman."

"If I'm to take the lead now, Bob, I won't have any talk of murder like
that."

"But it aren't murder, sir; it's on'y fair fight; tit for him before
it's tat for us. Not as we need argufy, because it wouldn't be safe to
try that game. Oughtn't we to take to the boat, sir?"

"How can we, Bob?" cried Carey, angrily. "You wouldn't go and leave the
doctor?"

"Nay, sir, that I wouldn't. I shouldn't call a chap a man who'd go and
do a thing like that. We should take him with us."

"Hoist him with ropes through that broken skylight! Why, it would kill
him."

"Well, Jackum and me we'd carry him out o' the s'loon door, sir. We'd
be werry careful."

"Pish! You know that the old ruffian commands the staircase, and he
shot both Jackum and me when we were there. He'd riddle you both with
bullets, and perhaps quite kill Doctor Kingsmead."

"Well, sir, he's riddling of me now, sir; I dunno what to say; on'y it
don't seem nat'ral to stand still and be blown up in a splosion, when
you might get away. Ha! I have it, sir. S'pose I get the boat round
under the cabin window, and you and Jackum shove the doctor out and
lower him down. What d'yer say to that?"

"Nonsense!" cried Carey, impatiently. "I don't understand wounds much--
no, not a bit; but from what the doctor said I'm sure if we tried to
move him he'd bleed to death."

"That settles it, sir, then; you and me's got to stay. But look ye
here, Master Carey; they say it's best in a splosion to lie down flat
till it's over. Ah, there he goes again. I