e sail being tanned, and therefore
almost black in the darkness, it served him a good turn too; for after his
enemies had passed on and were busy making prisoners of the rest of the
crew, he lay there unperceived for a great while, listening to the racket,
but faint and stunned, so that he could make neither head nor tail of it.
At length a couple of men came aft and began handling the sail; and
"Hullo!" says one of them, discovering him, "here's one as dead as a
haddock!"

"Put him below," says the other.

"What's the use?" asks the other, pulling Dan'l out by the legs and
examining him; "the poor devil's head is all jelly." Just then a cry was
raised that one of the boats had gone adrift, the boarders having
forgotten to make her fast in their hurry, and someone called out an order
to man the other and pull in search of her. The two fellows that had been
handling Dan'l dropped him and ran aft, and Dan'l--all sick and giddy as
he was--crawled into the scuppers and, pulling himself up till his eyes
were level with the bulwarks, tried to measure the distance between him
and shore. Now the lugger (you'll remember) was adrift when the Navymen
first boarded her, through Billy Tregaskis having cut the cable; and with
the set of the tide she must been carried close in-shore during the
scrimmage before they brought her up: for, to Dan'l's amazement, she lay
head-to-beach, and so close you could toss a biscuit ashore. There the
shingle spread, a-glimmering under his nose, as you might say; and he put
up a thanksgiving when he remembered that a minute ago his only hope had
been to swim ashore--a thing impossible in his weak state; but now, if he
could only drop overside without being observed, he verily believed he
could wade for it--that is, after the first few yards--for the
_Black Joke_ drew from five to six feet of water, and since she lay afloat
'twas certain the water right under him must be beyond his depth.
Having made up his mind to the risk--for anything was better than Bodmin
prison--he heaved a leg across the bulwarks, and so very cautious-like
rolled over and dropped. His toes--for he went down pretty plump--touched
bottom for a moment: but when he came to strike out he found he'd
over-calculated his strength, and gave himself up for lost. He swallowed
some water, too, and was on the point of crying out to be taken aboard
again and not left to drown, when the set of the tide swept him forward,
so that he fetc