your oars, my lads."

"No, no, I forbid it," cried Mr Frewen wildly, "and I call upon you men
to help me board this ship."

"You are not in command here, sir," said Mr Brymer sternly. "Take your
place. Now, my lads, oars, and give way."

There was another shot from the deck, and one of the men uttered an
exclamation as the blades were thrust over the side, dipped, and seemed
to lift golden water at every stroke.

"Good-bye, and God bless you!" came from the cabin-window, and directly
after the same words were spoken by Miss Denning, and I heard Mr Frewen
utter a groan.

Another shot came from the ship, whose lanterns showed where she lay,
while, but for the golden oil the oars stirred on the surface of the
water, our boat must have been invisible, though that bullet was
sufficiently well aimed to strike the side of the boat with a sharp
crack.

"That will do. In oars!" cried Mr Brymer, when we were about a hundred
yards away.

"How can you be such a coward?" I heard Mr Frewen whisper
passionately.

"No coward, sir," replied the mate. "I am ready to risk my life in
trying, as is my duty, to save those two passengers from harm, but it
must be done with guile. It is madness for unarmed men to try and climb
up that ship just to be thrown back into the sea."

"Then you will not row right away?" said Mr Frewen, excitedly.

"And leave the ship in the hands of that scoundrel? Is it likely?"

"I beg your pardon, Brymer," whispered Mr Frewen, "I did not know what
I was saying. I was half mad."

"My dear fellow, I know," was the mate's reply in the same tone. "I'm
not going to give up, nor yet despair. There's always a chance for us.
That scoundrel may come to his end from a quarrel with one of his men; a
ship may heave in sight; or we may board and surprise them, and if we
do, may I be forgiven, but I'll crush the life out of that wretch as I
would destroy a tiger. Now just leave me to do my duty, and do yours."

"What can I do?" replied Mr Frewen. "You do not want me to row away?"

"No; but I do wish you to attend to our wounded."

"Ah! I had forgotten that," said Mr Frewen, hastily bestirring
himself. "Here, some one cried out when one of those shots was fired,
and again I heard an exclamation just now."

"It was Walters who was hit first," I said, from where I knelt in the
bottom of the boat.

"Where is he? Somewhere forward?"

"No; here," I said.

"Has any one matches? It is impossibl