will," answered the man as I wheeled round, directed a
long, scrutinising glance at the canvas, stepped off the grating and
squinted into the binnacle, and finally resumed my perambulation of the
deck.

Now, here was a nice plot to face, and countermine! A plot that was
only to be defeated by subtlety and strategy; for, at the most, there
were but three of us, all told, against thirteen ruthless, treacherous
men; and it was not to be forgotten that no dependence whatever was to
be placed upon the man Harry; his scruples apparently drew the line at
cold-blooded murder, but on the hither side of that, consideration for
his own safety might tempt him to any conceivable lengths; in short, it
needed but very little consideration to demonstrate that if I was to
secure his active co-operation, I must make it perfectly clear to him
that it would be distinctly to his interest to give it me. Then there
was Miss Onslow. She was a woman of a delicate and refined nature, of a
magnificent courage certainly, clever, and resourceful; and thus far
capable, perhaps, of affording valuable suggestions, but by no means to
be involved so tangibly in any scheme against the men as to expose her
to their vengeful fury in the event of failure. The question whether I
should mention this latest development to her at all was one of long and
anxious mental debate with me; on the one hand I was intensely desirous
to spare this poor girl any further terror and anxiety; while, on the
other, I felt doubtful whether, in a matter that so vitally interested
her, I ought not to afford her the opportunity of bringing her keen and
clever woman's wit to bear upon the problem that had now thrust itself
upon us. I spent an anxious, sleepless night, revolving countless
schemes in my head, and abandoning them, one after the other, either as
impracticable, or else too dependent upon chance. The whole of the next
day and the succeeding night was similarly spent by me; and when I
sprang feverishly from my bunk, haggard and hollow-eyed with
sleeplessness and worry, on the second morning after my conversation
with the man Harry, I had come to the resolution that it was my duty to
inform Miss Onslow how matters stood with us, and to afford her the
opportunity to assist me with any suggestions that might occur to her.

An opportunity occurred shortly after breakfast. I had taken my sights
for the brig's longitude, worked them out, laid down the result upon the
c