ould be got into, this is about the worst. Here we are
as helpless as a turned turtle on a Florida sandspit."

"Well, sir, not quite," replied Hilary smiling; "we've got our guns, and
the crew would give good account of--"

"Silence, sir! This is no laughing matter," cried the lieutenant
angrily. "It may seem very droll to you, but if I embody your conduct
of the past night in a despatch your chance of promotion is gone for
ever."

Hilary stared, but he had common sense enough to say nothing, while the
lieutenant took a turn up and down the deck, which would have been a
very pleasant promenade for a cripple with one leg shorter than the
other; but as the cutter was a good deal heeled over, it was so
unpleasant for Lieutenant Lipscombe, already suffering from giddiness,
the result of his wound, that he stopped short and stood holding on by a
stay.

"Most extraordinary thing," he said; "my head is always perfectly clear
in the roughest seas, but ashore I turn as giddy as can be. But there;
don't stand staring about, Leigh. Take half-a-dozen men and make a bit
of search up and down the coast. See if you can find any traces of the
smuggling party. If you had had any thought in you such a thing might
have been proposed at daybreak. It will be hours before we float."

"Yes, sir, certainly," exclaimed Leigh, rather excitedly, for he was
delighted with the idea. "Shall I arm the men, sir?"

"Arm the men, sir! Oh, no: of course not. Let every man carry a swab,
and a spoon stuck in his belt. Goodness me, Mr Leigh, where are your
brains? You are going to track out a parcel of desperadoes, and you ask
me if you shall take the men armed."

"Very sorry, sir," said Hilary. "I'll try and do better. You see I am
so sadly wanting in experience."

The lieutenant looked at him sharply, but Hilary's face was as calm and
unruffled as the sea behind him, and not finding any chance for a
reprimand, the lieutenant merely made a sign to him to go, walking
forward himself to hurry on the carpenter, and then repassing Hilary and
going below to his cabin.

"Skipper's got his legs acrost this mornin', sir," said Billy Waters,
touching his hat. "Hope you'll take me with you, sir."

"I should like to have you, Waters, and Tom Tully. By the way, how is
he this morning? He got hurt."

"Oh, he's all right, sir," said the gunner grinning. "He got a knock,
sir, but he didn't get hurt. Nothin' hurts old Tom. I don't believe