How close
a shave it was is shown by the fact that you were yourself unable to get
off the ship in time and were carried down with her."

"It was all in the way of business," Will laughed. "We were after the
pirates, and when we saw the state of your vessel we reluctantly gave up
the chase in order to see if we could be of any assistance. I expect the
schooner wouldn't have run away from us had she not been so full of the
cargo she got from your ship. They could not have had time to stow it all
below, and it would have hampered them in working their guns, besides
probably affecting their speed. I shall know her again when I see her, and
then will try if these scoundrels are as good at fighting as they are at
cold-blooded murder."

"Where are you going now, sir?"

"I am cruising at present, and am master of my own movements, so if you
will let me know where you are bound for, I will try to set as many of you
down at your destination as I can."

"Most of us are bound for Jamaica, sir, and the others will be able to
find their way to their respective islands from there."

"Very well, then, I will head for Jamaica at once. In the meantime my
cabin and that of my second in command are at the service of the ladies.
There are the sofas, too, in the saloon, and if these are not enough I
will get some hammocks slung. I shall myself sleep on deck, and those of
you who prefer it can do the same; for the others I will have hammocks
slung in the hold."

Most of the ladies soon came up, but the girl Will had saved did not
appear till the next morning. She was very pretty, and likely to be more
so. If he had allowed her she would have overwhelmed him with thanks, but
he made light of the whole affair. He learned from the other passengers
that she was the daughter of one of the richest merchants in Jamaica. At
the death of her mother, when she was five years old, she was sent home to
England in charge of the governess who had been drowned in the
_Northumberland_, and when this catastrophe occurred had been on her way
to rejoin her father. Although saddened by the death of her old friend,
she soon showed signs of a disposition naturally bright and cheerful. She
bantered Will about his command, and professed to regard _L'Agile_ as a
toy ship, expressing great wonder that it was not manned by boy A.B.'s as
well as boy officers.

"It must surely seem very ridiculous to you," she said, "to be giving
orders to men old enough to be y