s ashore
behaved--Hillo! what's this? Why--I say, Temple, there's a dead native
floating about out here. What's the meaning of that?"

"It means that a determined attempt to capture the schooner was made,
about two hours ago, and was very near being successful," said I. "Do
you mean to say that you did not hear the rumpus?"

"Not a sound of it," answered Cunningham. "But of course that may be
accounted for by--but one can talk about that later. Just heave me a
rope's end, there's a good chap, and--I say, how are we going to get the
skipper up on deck? He's rather badly hurt, and can't manage without
assistance, I'm afraid."

The canoe was by this time close aboard of us, and a few seconds later
she was brought alongside with the aid of the line which I hove to
Cunningham. Then I dropped lightly over the side into her, to see what
could be done to help Brown, who all this time had remained perfectly
silent. I found him propped up in the eyes of the little craft, and
when I stooped over him I saw that his eyes were closed, as though he
slept. But according to Cunningham it was not sleep, it was
insensibility, resulting from a blow on the head with a heavy club. In
any case the poor old fellow was obviously quite unable to help himself.
I therefore took the rope's end which I had thrown to Cunningham, made
a standing bowline in the end of it, passed it under the skipper's arms,
and then sang out to those on deck to hoist away gently, while
Cunningham and I helped by lifting. Thus presently we managed to get
Brown first on deck and then down into his own stateroom, where
Cunningham, who claimed to possess a certain amateurish skill and
knowledge in medicine and surgery, at once took him in hand, while I
returned to the deck and assisted the others in the task of
straightening up generally.

By the time we had finished the young dawn was paling the eastern sky,
and the island, from being a mere shapeless black shadow, had changed to
a deep neutral-tinted--almost black--silhouette, as clear and sharp of
outline as though it had been cut out of paper, its equally dark
reflection trembling on the surface of the water, and coming and going
almost as far out as where the schooner lay at anchor. Then, even as I
stood watching, the pallor brightened to a clear, pale tint of purest
primrose, which presently flushed into a warm, delicate orange hue; a
long shaft of white light shot straight up toward the zenith, and a