d not care what happened. But before he could speak, there appeared
on the rail of the King and Queen, holding fast to a shroud, the figure
of a young man, who put his hand to his mouth and hailed:

"Throw me a line! Throw me a line!"

Such an extraordinary request at such a time naturally amazed the
pirates, and they stood staring, as they crowded along the side of their
vessel.

"If you are not going to board her," shouted Dickory again, "throw me a
line!"

Filled with curiosity to know what this strange proceeding meant, Black
Paul ordered that a line be thrown, and, in a moment, a tall fellow
seized a coil of light rope and hurled it through the air in the
direction of the brig; but the rope fell short, and the outer end of it
disappeared beneath the water. Now the spirit of Black Paul was up. If
the fellow on the brig wanted a line he wanted to come aboard, and if he
wanted to come aboard, he should do so. So he seized a heavier coil and,
swinging it around his head, sent it, with tremendous force, towards
Dickory, who made a wild grab at it and caught it.

Although a comparatively light line, it was a long one, and the slack of
it was now in the water, so that Dickory had to pull hard upon it before
he could grasp enough of it to pass around his body. He had scarcely
done this, and had made a knot in it, before a lurch of the brig brought
a strain on the rope, and he was incontinently jerked overboard.

The crew of the merchantman, who had not had time to comprehend what the
young fellow was about to do, would have grasped him had he remained on
the rail a moment longer, but now he was gone into the sea, and, working
vigorously with his legs and arms, was endeavouring to keep his head
above water while the pirates at the other end of the rope pulled him
swiftly towards their vessel.

Great was the excitement on board the Revenge. Why should a man from a
merchantman endeavour, alone, to board a vessel which flew the Jolly
Roger? Did he wish to join the crew? Had they been ill-treating him on
board the brig? Was he a criminal endeavouring to escape from the
officers of the law? It was impossible to answer any of these questions,
and so the swarthy rascals pulled so hard and so steadily upon the line
that the knot in it, which Dickory had not tied properly, became a
slipknot, and the poor fellow's breath was nearly squeezed out of him as
he was hauled over the rough water. When he reached the vessel's side
th