rew on this raised a hearty cheer as they
sent a few last shot flying after her. Scarcely had the shout died away
than the brave Captain sank down on the deck.

"We must carry him below and see to his wounds," said Stephen, and Roger
called Sam Stokes and another man to their assistance.

"Tell the mate to stand on till he loses sight of the pirate, and then
haul to the northward," whispered the Captain in a faint voice. He
could say no more. As soon as he was placed in his berth, Stephen and
Roger did their best to doctor him, but they were unaccustomed to
surgical operations.

"Let me see what I can do," said Sam. "I have had half-a-dozen bullets
in my body during my time, and seen hundreds of men wounded, so I ought
to have a little notion." So he set to work in a methodical way to
discover what had become of the bullet which had entered the Captain's
side. He managed to find it, and, what was of great consequence, the
cloth which had been carried in at the same time, and got them out, then
stopped the blood and bound up the wound.

"Cannot say how he will do, but I have done my best, and can do no
more," observed old Sam as he left the cabin to look after some of his
wounded messmates.

Three men had been killed and five wounded out of the crew, which
greatly reduced their strength. The first mate, who now took command,
hauled up to the northward, as the Captain had directed him. As the
_Dolphin_ had been running for so many hours out of her course, she was
considerably to the southward of the Straits, though the mate asserted
that they would be able to fetch the entrance of the Straits if the wind
held the following day. Nothing more was seen of the Algerine during
the night, and hopes were entertained that she would not again attempt
to molest them. The Captain, notwithstanding that the bullet had been
extracted, continued in a very weak state, and almost unconscious.
Stephen and Roger, not trusting to the mate's navigation, got out the
chart, marked down the course they had run to the best of their
knowledge, and the next morning took an observation, which placed the
_Dolphin_ considerably to the southward. Whereon the mate asserted that
she was much nearer the coast, in fact she had been sailing almost
parallel with it for a considerable distance, and soon after noon he put
the ship about and steered due east.

"I think, sir, that to sight the rock of Gibraltar we should be steering
north-east,