"Lads," he began, "y' are right wooden heads, I think. For to get back,

by the mass, we must have an offing, must we not? And this old

Lawless--"

Someone struck the speaker on the mouth, and the next moment, as a fire

springs among dry straw, he was felled upon the deck, trampled under the

feet, and despatched by the daggers of his cowardly companions. At this

the wrath of Lawless rose and broke.

"Steer yourselves," he bellowed, with a curse; and, careless of the

result, he left the helm.

The Good Hope was, at that moment, trembling on the summit of a swell.

She subsided, with sickening velocity, upon the farther side. A wave,

like a great black bulwark, hove immediately in front of her; and, with a

staggering blow, she plunged headforemost through that liquid hill. The

green water passed right over her from stem to stern, as high as a man's

knees; the sprays ran higher than the mast; and she rose again upon the

other side, with an appalling, tremulous indecision, like a beast that

has been deadly wounded.

Six or seven of the malcontents had been carried bodily overboard; and as

for the remainder, when they found their tongues again, it was to bellow

to the saints and wail upon Lawless to come back and take the tiller.

Nor did Lawless wait to be twice bidden. The terrible result of his

The Black Arrow