tely followed by the cheeping of blocks
and the creaking of yard parralls, by which I knew that they were
filling upon the brigantine and leaving us.

"I could not understand why they had left us all there, alive, but bound
hand and foot as we were. I suspected some villainy, however, and my
first idea was that they had set the barque on fire. But I could not
detect any smell of burning, and then the thought came to me that
perhaps they had scuttled her, intending us to go down with the ship.
The idea of either fairly made my blood run cold, I can tell you; but it
stirred me up too, and I went to work to see if I could work my hands
free. I might just as well have tried to fly; the scoundrels had made
sure work of me, and no mistake. Then I sang out to the others to try
if they could work themselves adrift; and after a bit first one and then
another answered that it was no use, they were lashed altogether too
securely.

"`Well, lads,' says I, `if none of us can work ourselves free, I'm
afraid it's all up with us; for my notion is that those Spanish devils
have scuttled the ship, and if so it won't be so very long before she'll
founder, taking us with her.'

"That set the men muttering among themselves, and presently the man that
was lying nearest me said--

"`If you can manage to work your way near enough to me, sir, for me to
get a feel of your lashings with my fingers, I'll see what I can do
towards loosenin' of 'em for yer.'

"`All right, my lad,' says I, `I will!' No sooner said than done. I
worked and wriggled myself up alongside of him somehow, and presently I
felt his fingers fumbling about with my lashings. This particular chap,
I ought to tell you, was uncommonly clever with his fingers, especially
in the matter of handling rope; and sure enough, in about twenty
minutes, I'm blessed if he hadn't worked those lashings so loose that I
presently managed to slip my hands clear of 'em altogether. The moment
that I was free I set to work to chafe my fingers and get the life back
into them,--for they had lashed me so tight that I had lost all feeling
in my hands,--and as soon as I was able to tell once more that I'd got a
complete set of fingers, I whipped a knife out of my pocket and cut the
lashings off my feet, after which I went the round of the party, cutting
them adrift as quick as I could. Then, while they were getting the
benumbed feeling out of their limbs, I swung myself down through the
open