ain enough, mates," continued the gunner. "I was
hitting at that chap one minute in the dark, and then he was gone. He'd
been keeping me off while his mates was whipped up, and then, when his
turn came, up he goes like a bag o' biscuit into a warehouse door at
Portsmouth, and I'll lay a tot o' grog that's what's become of our young
orsifer."

"Hark at him!" cried Tom Tully, giving his head a sidewise wag. "That's
it for sartain; and if I wouldn't rather sarve under Billy Waters for
skipper than our luff, I ar'n't here."

"You'd best tell him, then, as soon as we get on board," said one of the
men.

"What! and be called a fool and a hidiot!" cried the gunner. "Not I, my
lads. I says let him find it out for hisself now, for I sha'n't tell
nothing till I'm asked."

In this spirit the crew of the second boat reached the side of the
cutter, went on board, the boats were hoisted up, and Billy Waters had
the pleasure of finding himself placed under arrest, with the great
grief upon his mind that his guns were left to the tender mercies of the
boatswain, and a minor sorrow in the fact that his supply of grog was
stopped.

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

IN THE MIDDLE WATCH.

How long Hilary had been asleep he did not know, but he was aroused
suddenly by something touching his face, and he lay there wide awake on
the instant, wondering what it meant.

And now for the first time the hardship of his position came with
renewed force. He was accustomed to a rough life on board ship, where
in those days there were few of the luxuries of civilisation, but there
he had a tolerably comfortable bed. Here he had straw, and the absence
of a coverlet of any description made him terribly cold.

The cold chill did not last many seconds after his awaking, for he felt
a strange sensation of heat come over him; his hands grew moist, and in
a state of intense excitement he lay wondering what it was that had
touched his face.

He could not be sure, but certainly it felt like a cold, soft hand, and
he waited for a renewal of the touch, determined to grasp at it if it
came again.

He was as brave as most lads of his age, but as he lay there, startled
into a sudden wakefulness, it was impossible to help thinking of Adela's
words spoken that morning and his own light remarks, and for a time he
felt in a strange state of perturbation.

All was perfectly still, and it was so dark that he could not for some
time make out the shape of the w