ard to the hatchway, with me at his heels, and
went stumbling down the steep ladder. As he reached the bottom I flung
myself upon him, clasping him round the body and arms, and lifted him
off his feet, at the same time singing out to Hardy to gag him; and in
another minute we had him securely bound, hand and foot, and lashed hard
and fast into a hammock.

"So far, well!" I exclaimed, as I dragged him unceremoniously away to a
dark corner. "We have now but to secure Renouf and his brother, and the
schooner is ours. Hardy, Green, and Sendell, come you aft with me,
providing yourselves with a belaying-pin each on the way; and you,
Anstey, will keep Mr Dumaresq company on deck, mounting guard over the
companion, to prevent anyone going below, or to knock down and secure
anyone who may escape us and attempt to reach the deck. Our duty is
very simple; four of us will enter the cabin; and while Hardy and I
attempt to secure Renouf and his brother, the other two will stand by to
assist, in the event of either of us becoming disabled by a pistol
bullet. Come along, my hearties."

So saying, I led my little party aft. At the head of the companion
ladder Dumaresq and the man Anstey came to a halt, the former engaging
the drunken helmsman in conversation, while the remaining four of us
stole down the ladder, bare-footed, and noiseless as cats. I had
already mentally arranged my method of procedure; so, whispering to
Hardy that he was to tackle the chief mate, while I would look after
Renouf, I boldly knocked at the cabin door. A command to enter, given
in rather a drowsy, peevish tone of voice, was the immediate response,
whereupon I flung open the door and passed into the cabin closely
followed by Hardy.

Renouf and his brother occupied a locker each on opposite sides of the
cabin; and it was quite apparent that they had both been indulging in a
nap, which I had rudely broken in upon. They were in the act of
changing from a reclining to a sitting posture, yawning and stretching
as they did so, when I entered the cabin.

"Captain Renouf," began I, as I advanced toward him, "I have taken the
liberty to--"

My little ruse was, however, unavailing; the ruffian seemed to
instinctively and immediately divine my purpose, and in a flash he had
whipped a pistol and a long knife--the blade of which I noticed was
smeared with blood--from his belt, and levelled the former straight at
my head. There was no need for further wor