vince me that a
plot was hatching among some of the men to run off with the ship; but it
was also important to ascertain when the precious scheme was to be put
into execution. That point, though I listened eagerly, I could not
ascertain. I was anxious that the men should not suspect that I
overheard them, which, if I moved, I was afraid they might do; so I sat
quiet, pretending to be asleep. I considered what course I ought to
pursue. Had Captain Gunnel been a different sort of man to what he was,
I should, of course, have at once informed him; but as his ill-conduct
had made the men think of the scheme I had heard them discuss, I felt
that it would be better to try and counteract it, without letting him
know anything about the matter. I resolved, therefore, only to tell Mr
Henley and Mr Vernon, on whose discretion I knew that I could rely, and
let them consider what course to pursue. The mutineers went on talking;
and from further words I occasionally caught, I discovered that the
conspiracy had existed for some time, and had spread much further than I
at first supposed. At last, losing patience at having to sit so long, I
rose and went forward, as if about to look over the bows. I had stood
there a minute, when I felt two hands grasping my shoulders.

"You've heard what we've been talking about," whispered Cobb--I was
certain it was him--in a deep, fierce tone.

"And if I have, what is that?" I asked with an unfaltering voice.

"That dead men don't tell tales," answered the seaman in the same tone
of concentrated fierceness.

"It is folly for you to talk to me in that way," I answered. "Though I
am young, I am not a child to be frightened by you. You will get no
good by doing what you are talking of let me tell you that at all
events, and advise you to give up your notable scheme."

"Then you did overbear us," said the ruffian Cobb; "it won't do to trust
him."

Before I had time to open my mouth I found myself gagged, so that I
could not give the alarm, and I felt that the ruffians were about to
lift me up and heave me overboard. At that moment an ally came to my
aid, on whom the mutineers had not reckoned. The moment the fellows
laid violent hands on me, Solon, who had been standing unobserved under
the bowsprit, sprung on them, biting them right and left, and barking
loudly. They sung out to each other to knock him on the head with a
handspike, but he avoided their blows, now leaping on one side,