ilent. The hurt sailor was carried to the inner chamber, where a
lantern was lit, for it would be impossible to see this light from
outside. Then the girls set to work to make Bostwick comfortable.

"Has anybody been shot?" asked Tom.

"I got a bullet scratch on the arm," answered the captain. "And Marny
got a few buck-shot in his shoulder. But neither of the hurts amount
to anything."

"What do you think the mutineers will do next?"

"Ransack the house first," said Sam. "Oh, but they are a bad crowd!
They came on like a lot of demons."

"Of course Baxter was with them."

"Yes, but he kept in the background, for fear, I suppose, of being shot."

With caution one after another left the mouth of the cave to look in
the direction of the house. No one outside of their own party was
visible.

Suddenly a glare lit up the scene, growing brighter each instant.

"By the great boots!" ejaculated Captain Blossom. "They have set the
house on fire!"

"That shows how crazy they are," declared Dick. "In their rage they
are liable to do anything. Ten to one they get to fighting between
themselves before this is over."

The house, being built of semi-green logs, burnt slowly. As it was
consumed, they heard some of the sailors singing and yelling, and
heard several pistol shots and a scream of pain.

"Some of them are coming now!" announced Sam, half an hour later.

"Everybody get back out of sight," cried Captain Blossom.

There was a wild scramble, and in the rush Tom tripped and fell. His
foot struck a stone, which went rolling down to the mutineers' feet.

"Hi! hi! there they are!" came in a rough, thick voice.

"Where?" roared back the voice of Jack Lesher.

"Up there, among the rocks and bushes."

"Let's go after 'em!"

"Shoot 'em down, boys! They deserve it for burning up the ship!"

Up the rocks came the hard-drunken sailors, accompanied by Lesher,
and with Dan Baxter in their rear.

"Back! back! All of you, stand back!" cried Captain Blossom. "Come
a step nearer at your peril. We are all armed and ready to fire!"

At these words the sailors halted for a moment.

"Say, cap'n, why did you set the ship afire?" asked an unsteady voice.

"We had nothing to do with that," answered Captain Blossom. "We were
all over on this island when the blaze started."

"It's a lie!" came in the voice of Lesher.

"Of course it's a lie," added Dan Baxter. "They did their best to
burn every one of us up.

"It is the t