ning of
the weather further concealed the movements of the outlaws from all
possible espial. In a trice they had leaped upon the heaving deck, and
the skiff was dancing at the stern. The _Good Hope_ was captured.

She was a good stout boat, decked in the bows and amidships, but open in
the stern. She carried one mast, and was rigged between a felucca and a
lugger. It would seem that Skipper Arblaster had made an excellent
venture, for the hold was full of pieces of French wine; and in the
little cabin, besides the Virgin Mary in the bulkhead which proved the
captain's piety, there were many lockfast chests and cupboards, which
showed him to be rich and careful.

A dog, who was the sole occupant of the vessel, furiously barked, and
bit the heels of the boarders, but he was soon kicked into the cabin,
and the door shut upon his just resentment. A lamp was lit and fixed in
the shrouds to mark the vessel clearly from the shore; one of the wine
pieces in the hold was broached, and a cup of excellent Gascony emptied
to the adventure of the evening; and then, while one of the outlaws
began to get ready his bow and arrows and prepare to hold the ship
against all comers, the other hauled in the skiff and got overboard,
where he held on, waiting for Dick.

"Well, Jack, keep me a good watch," said the young commander, preparing
to follow his subordinate. "Ye will do right well."

"Why," returned Jack, "I shall do excellent well indeed, so long as we
lie here; but once we put the nose of this poor ship outside the
harbour----. See, there she trembles! Nay, the poor shrew heard the
words, and the heart misgave her in her oak-tree ribs. But look, Master
Dick! how black the weather gathers!"

The darkness ahead was, indeed, astonishing. Great billows heaved up out
of the blackness, one after another; and one after another the _Good
Hope_ buoyantly climbed, and giddily plunged upon the farther side. A
thin sprinkle of snow and thin flakes of foam came flying, and powdered
the deck; and the wind harped dismally among the rigging.

"In sooth, it looketh evilly," said Dick. "But what cheer! 'Tis but a
squall, and presently it will blow over." But, in spite of his words, he
was depressingly affected by the bleak disorder of the sky and the
wailing and fluting of the wind; and as he got over the side of the
_Good Hope_ and made once more for the landing-creek with the best speed
of oars, he crossed himself devoutly, and recommended to