pardon, sir, I'm sure, for appearing to doubt your story,"
cried the skipper, stretching forward his hand, which the other eagerly
grasped. "The fact is, sir, I thought at first your sufferings had set
your head wrong; but now I need hardly say I believe thoroughly every
word you've told us, and you may rely on my aid and that of every man
aboard here to help you and yours. There's my hand on it, sir, and my
word you'll find as good as my bond, so sure as my name is Jack
Applegarth!"

"And mine, captain, is Vereker, Colonel Vereker, at your service,"
returned the other, reciprocating the skipper's cordiality as he looked
him straight in the face, holding his hand the while in a firm grip. He
let go the skipper's fist, however, the next moment and a puzzled
expression came into his eyes as he glanced round occasionally,
apparently in search of some one or other. "Heavens! Where's my
unfortunate comrade who was in the boat with me--poor Captain Alphonse?
Alas, I had forgotten him!"

"We have not forgotten him, though, colonel," said the skipper smiling.
"He has been carried below to the saloon on the maindeck, where my
second mate, Mr O'Neil, who is a qualified surgeon, is now attending to
his injuries. He has been terribly mauled, poor fellow; we could see
that!"

"Aye, terribly!" repeated the other with a shudder, as if the
recollection of all he and his fellow-sufferers had gone through
suddenly came back to him at the moment. "But, great Heavens! captain,
we're losing time and that accursed ship with those scoundrels and our
remaining comrades, and with my darling child on board, is speeding away
while we're talking here. You will, will you not, Senor Applegarth, go
in pursuit of her, my friend?"

"By George I will, colonel; I will at once--immediately--if you'll tell
me her bearings," cried the skipper excitedly. "When was it this
terrible affair happened? When did you leave the ship, and where?"

"The revolt of the blacks, or mutiny, I should call it, captain, broke
out four days ago, on last Friday, indeed, sir," said the American
promptly in his deep musical voice, and whose foreign accent obliterated
all trace of the unmelodious Yankee twang. "But we kept the rascals at
bay until last night, soon after sundown, when they made an ugly rush
and overpowered us. Captain Alphonse had just sighted your vessel in
the distance and was burning a blue light over the stern to attract your
attention, so as