and the third to break
open the arm-chest, we all sprang out upon them. Cobb and Clink
struggled desperately, but Mr Henley and those with us soon had them
under. Mr Vernon showed that he could fight as well as preach, and not
one of the men about to enter the cabin escaped, while the doctor
secured most of those below. Two or three, however, in the scuffle with
us managed to escape forward before we had time to get our lanterns
lighted, and so furiously did the others resist, that we were unable to
spare any of our hands to follow them; we had not also discovered who
they were. We had ropes ready, and so we lashed all the fellows' arms
and legs, and made them fast to the ring bolts in the deck, where they
lay without power to move. Never was success so complete; no one was
hurt; not a pistol had been fired. The captain was not in a condition
to understand what had occurred, but Mr Grimes, hearing the scuffle,
rushed out of his cabin; he, however, stood irresolute, not knowing
whether friends or foes had the upper hand; and very much astonished was
he when he was told what had occurred. He did not receive the
information very graciously, and grumbled at not having been aroused
before. Mr Henley and I, with a strong party, meantime, holding
lanterns in our hands, commenced a search round the between-decks and
forward, to try and discover the people who had escaped from us. The
second-class passengers were all in their berths, and many of them
asleep. Mr Barwell was in his, and snoring loudly--so loudly, that I
could not help fancying it was feigned. Mr Henley threw the light of
the lantern in his face, and shook him by the shoulder. I expected to
find that he was dressed, but if he had been among the mutineers, he had
had time to take off his clothes.
"What's the matter? who wants me?" he exclaimed, in a husky voice.
"Up, up, sir," answered Mr Henley. "There's mutiny on board, and we
want you to help us."
"Mutiny! who's going to mutiny?" he said, rubbing his eyes. "I'll be up
soon and help you, of course."
I could not tell what Mr Henley thought about this reply. We met three
or four people coming aft, who seemed very much astonished at hearing
what had occurred, while all the suspected men whom we had not secured
were in their berths. Our difficulty was to secure those we had
captured, to guard against their being liberated. We had a dozen pair
of irons on board, which we clapped on those most
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