to drink up his, and ordered more and more liquor in,
when Toney said he would not take another drop. At last Toney didn't
know what happened except that he found himself slipping off from his
seat on to the sandy floor, and could not, for the life of him, get up
again. He thought it would be better to go to sleep where he was, so he
coiled himself away to have a snooze. When he woke he tried to
recollect what had happened.

"He remembered that he had been sitting with Joe Gubbins, and that he
somehow or other got down on the floor, so he felt about, thinking he
was there still. But all was dark; and instead of a sandy floor and the
legs of the tables and chairs, his hand touched only some hard pitchy
planks. He stretched out his arm as high as he could, and found that
there was a deck close above him. He crawled along, and came right
against a bulkhead. He knew then that he must be on board a craft of
some sort. He was not a man to make a fuss about nothing; and as he was
still only half awake, he thought he might as well turn round and go to
sleep again.

"When he roused up a second time, he felt the vessel moving to the heave
of the sea. He had been too long afloat not to know that she was making
good way through the water with a fresh breeze. As he was getting
somewhat hungry, he didn't want to be any longer down in the hold. He
thought it was time to sing out and let those on board know where he
was. Having a good pair of lungs of his own, he shouted pretty lustily,
but no one came near him, nor hailed him.

"`This seems a curious job,' he said to himself; `have they taken me for
a bale of goods and hove me down here to stay till they discharge
cargo?'

"Presently he heard the sound of a gun fired overhead; right aft, he
judged, for he knew well enough by the movements of the vessel which way
she was going. Then another, and another followed; then came a cheer,
though he heard it but faintly down where he was. The guns again went
off. He guessed that the craft he was on board of was being chased, and
that the cheer was given because the crew had knocked away some of the
enemy's spars. He could hear two or three shots strike the hull of the
vessel, so he knew that they were not having the game all to themselves.
Being fond of fighting, he wished that he was on deck to take his share
in it. There was no use wishing without trying to get out, but
whichever way he moved he found a strong bulkhead.