elves," he bellowed, with a curse; and, careless of the
result, he left the helm.

The Good Hope was, at that moment, trembling on the summit of a swell.
She subsided, with sickening velocity, upon the farther side. A wave,
like a great black bulwark, hove immediately in front of her; and, with a
staggering blow, she plunged headforemost through that liquid hill. The
green water passed right over her from stem to stern, as high as a man's
knees; the sprays ran higher than the mast; and she rose again upon the
other side, with an appalling, tremulous indecision, like a beast that
has been deadly wounded.

Six or seven of the malcontents had been carried bodily overboard; and as
for the remainder, when they found their tongues again, it was to bellow
to the saints and wail upon Lawless to come back and take the tiller.

Nor did Lawless wait to be twice bidden. The terrible result of his
fling of just resentment sobered him completely. He knew, better than
any one on board, how nearly the Good Hope had gone bodily down below
their feet; and he could tell, by the laziness with which she met the
sea, that the peril was by no means over.

Dick, who had been thrown down by the concussion and half drowned, rose
wading to his knees in the swamped well of the stern, and crept to the
old helmsman's side.

"Lawless," he said, "we do all depend on you; y' are a brave, steady man,
indeed, and crafty in the management of ships; I shall put three sure men
to watch upon your safety."

"Bootless, my master, bootless," said the steersman, peering forward
through the dark. "We come every moment somewhat clearer of these
sandbanks; with every moment, then, the sea packeth upon us heavier, and
for all these whimperers, they will presently be on their backs. For, my
master, 'tis a right mystery, but true, there never yet was a bad man
that was a good shipman. None but the honest and the bold can endure me
this tossing of a ship."

"Nay, Lawless," said Dick, laughing, "that is a right shipman's byword,
and hath no more of sense than the whistle of the wind. But, prithee,
how go we? Do we lie well? Are we in good case?"

"Master Shelton," replied Lawless, "I have been a Grey Friar--I praise
fortune--an archer, a thief, and a shipman. Of all these coats, I had
the best fancy to die in the Grey Friar's, as ye may readily conceive,
and the least fancy to die in John Shipman's tarry jacket; and that for
two excellent good reason