is thoughts turned anxiously towards his little charge down in the
distant hold. "Well, if the Captain goes, and I go, and we all go who
have charge of him, there is One above who will look after him and tend
him better than we can," he said more than once to himself. "Still I
wish he were safe out of this. For myself, I'd as lief go down with my
colours flying as strike them; but that would be hard for him, and yet
the old ship seems very uneasy. Heaven watch over him and protect him!"

As Paul said this to himself, a shot came flying from the ship on the
_Terrible's_ quarter. Suddenly Paul was torn from his hold of the
wheel, and, with two other men, was seen struggling on the other side of
the deck. Captain Penrose had at that moment faced aft and seen what
had occurred.

"Paul Pringle gone!" he said sadly to himself. "A better seaman never
died fighting for his country."

Scarcely had the well-merited eulogium passed his lips, than, from among
the mangled forms of his shipmates, and covered from head to foot with
their still warm blood, up sprang Paul himself, and with a bound
returned to the wheel, the spokes of which he grasped firmly, singing
out with stentorian voice and a prolonged cadence, "Steady!" as he
passed them rapidly round.

The man who had been ordered to take his place stopped when he saw him,
with a look of amazement, uncertain whether it was his ghost or not.

"It's myself, Jack," said he; "but it was a near touch and go, and for
some moments never did I expect to be on my legs again, let me tell you,
lad."

Still hotter and hotter grew the fight; but the firing sent down the
little air that there had been, and it fell so that no more of the
British ships could get up to the support of those engaged. Still the
van and centre bravely supported the unequal fight. The carpenter came
and reported to the Captain that he had sounded the well, and that the
water was gaining rapidly on the ship.

"Man the pumps, then, Mr Chips, and try and clear her," was the answer.

Some men were at once told off for that purpose, ill as they could be
spared from the guns, and sent below.

Scarcely had they set to work when a shot came in, carrying off the
heads of several of them; another shortly followed and destroyed the
pumps. Mr Chips and the survivors, with some of his crew whom he
collected, strenuously exerted themselves to repair the damage; but it
was a long time before they could get the pu