Part 24 (1/2)

”I want a ith you without, Master Arblaster,” returned dick; ”and here is e shall talk of” And he showed hiht

The shi+pnise our hero

”Ay, boy,” he said, ”I aossip;” and, taking dick's arm to steady his uneven steps, he walked to the door of the alehouse

As soon as he was over the threshold, ten strong arms had seized and bound him; and in two ood gag in hishay-barn Presently, his man Tom, similarly secured, was tossed beside him, and the pair were left to their uncouth reflections for the night

And now, as the tione by, Lord Foxhanal, and the party, boldly taking possession of as many boats as their nuing of the shi+p Long before the last man had climbed to the deck of the Good Hope, the sound of furious shouting from the shore showed that a part, at least, of the seamen had discovered the loss of their skiffs

But it was now too late, whether for recovery or revenge Out of soht had been to sea, and could play the part of ot upon her The cable was cut Lawless, vacillating on his feet, and still shouting the chorus of sea-ballads, took the long tiller in his hands: and the Good Hope began to flit forward into the darkness of the night, and to face the great waves beyond the harbour bar

Richard took his place beside the weather rigging Except for the shi+p's own lantern, and for so to leeward, the whole world of air was as black as in a pit Only from time to time, as the Good Hope swooped dizzily down into the valley of the rollers, a crest would break--a great cataract of snowy foa--and, in an instant more, would strea on and praying aloud; many more were sick, and had crept into the bottoo And ith the extreme violence of the motion, and the continued drunken bravado of Lawless, still shouting and singing at the helm, the stoutest heart on boardas to the result

But Lawless, as if guided by an instinct, steered the shi+p across the breakers, struck the lee of a great sandbank, where they sailed for awhile in sside a rude, stone pier, where she was hastilyin the dark

CHAPTER V--THE GOOD HOPE (continued)

The pier was not far distant froet theparty, burst in the door and carry off the captive They ard themselves as done with the Good Hope; it had placed them on the rear of their enemies; and the retreat, whether they should succeed or fail in the reater measure of hope in the direction of the forest and et the men on shore, however, was no easy task; many had been sick, all were pierced with cold; the promiscuity and disorder on board had shaken their discipline; the ht had cowed their spirits They made a rush upon the pier; my lord, with his sword drawn on his own retainers, must throw himself in front; and this impulse of rabblement was not restrained without a certain claretted in the case

When soree of order had been restored, dick, with a few chosen men, set forth in advance The darkness on shore, by contrast with the flashi+ng of the surf, appeared before hiale drowned any lesser noise

He had scarce reached the end of the pier, however, when there fell a lull of the wind; and in this he see of horses and the clash of ar his immediate followers, he passed forward a step or two alone, even setting foot upon the down; and here heA strong discouragement assailed him If their eneuered the shoreward end of the pier, he and Lord Foxham were taken in a posture of very poor defence, the sea behind, the ave a cautious whistle, the signal previously agreed upon

It proved to be a signal far h the black night, a shower of arrows sent at a venture; and so close were the men huddled on the pier that more than one was hit, and the arroere answered with cries of both fear and pain In this first discharge, Lord Foxhaain at once; and his ht (when they fought at all) without guidance That was perhaps the chief cause of the disaster which made haste to follow

At the shore end of the pier, for perhaps a minute, dick held his oith a handful; one or tounded upon either side; steel crossed steel; nor had there been the least signal of advantage, when in the twinkling of an eye the tide turned against the party from the shi+p

Someone cried out that all was lost; the men were in the very humour to lend an ear to a discomfortable counsel; the cry was taken up ”On board, lads, for your lives!” cried another A third, with the true instinct of the coward, raised that inevitable report on all retreats: ”We are betrayed!” And in abackward down the pier, turning their defenceless backs on their pursuers and piercing the night with craven outcry

One coward thrust off the shi+p's stern, while another still held her by the bows The fugitives leaped, screa, and were hauled on board, or fell back and perished in the sea Some were cut down upon the pier by the pursuers Many were injured on the shi+p's deck in the blind haste and terror of theupon another, and a third on both At last, and whether by design or accident, the bows of the Good Hope were liberated; and the ever-ready Lawless, who had h all the hurly-burly by sheer strength of body and a liberal use of the cold steel, instantly clapped her on the proper tack The shi+p began toblood, its deck heaped with fallenin the dark

Thereupon, Lawless sheathed his dagger, and turning to his next neighbour, ”I have left , coward hounds”

Nohile they were all leaping and struggling for their lives, thestabs hich Lawless had held his post in the confusion But perhaps they had already begun to understand somewhat more clearly, or perhaps another ear had overheard, the helmsman's speech

Panic-stricken troops recover slowly, and raced themselves by cowardice, as if to wipe out the ht into the opposite extreme of insubordination

So it was now; and the same men who had throay their weapons and been hauled, feet forean to cry out upon their leaders, and de ill-feeling turned upon Lawless

In order to get a proper offing, the old outlaw had put the head of the Good Hope to seaward

”What!” bawled one of the grumblers, ”he carrieth us to seaward!”