"`My God! dear friend,' he cried, catching hold of me round the body in
his powerful arms, so that I could not move a step. `Remember the
little one, your little daughter, who would have no one to protect her
should these rabble kill you. Besides, my friend, the good Cato is dead
now, and the useless sacrifice of your life, of both our lives probably,
if you go forwards, and perhaps too the life of the little one, who
cannot even help herself, will never bring back the breath to the brave
lad's body! No, no, colonel, I promise you,' said he, at the same time
kissing the tips of his fingers and elevating his shoulders, in his
French fashion, `We will do something better than that. Only wait; be
patient. We will avenge him, you will see, but I pray you do nothing
rash, for the sake of the little one.'"

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.

ALL ADRIFT.

"Aye, colonel," sang out the skipper, as if in response to these words
of the French captain, "to avenge him; that's what all of us here have
sworn to do, I know, for I can answer for them as if I were speaking for
myself. Yes, and so we will, too. We'll avenge him--the poor fellow
whom they butchered. We will, by George!"

"Begorrah!" exclaimed Garry O'Neil. "You can count on me for one on
that job, as I tould ye before, and I don't care how soon we begin it,
cap'en!"

"And me too," put in old Mr Stokes, again becoming very enthusiastic.
"The whole lot must be punished, sir, when we catch them!"

"I thought so," said the skipper, looking round at us and then turning
to the colonel with a proud air. "You see, sir, we're all unanimous;
for I can answer for this lad Haldane, here, though the poor chap's too
bashful to speak for himself!"

"I know what the gallant youth can do already," said the other, looking
at me kindly as I held up my head like the rest, but with a very red
face. "Thank you, gentlemen all, for your promises. Well, then, on my
friend Captain Alphonse putting the matter in the way he did, to make an
end of my story, I held back, and all that day--it was last Saturday--we
remained on the defensive, we five holding the after part of the ship,
and the Haytians and mutineers of our crew the forecastle. All of us,
though, kept on the watch; they looking out for land, we for help in
response to our signal flag half-mast high.

"But neither party saw what they looked out and longed for; no corner of
land on the horizon gratified the desire of their eyes