Part 9 (1/2)

When I returned to Melannie I could see that she was sinking fast I did my best to staunch the blood which flowed from her breast But her whitened face, upon which the dews of death were gathering, warned me she had not many moments to live

”Kiss o You do not love me; you cannot love me as I love you There is some one else whom you love I know it; I have felt it Go to her, Peter, but do not quite forget me”

These were her last words, and, when I kissed her, Melannie, Queen of the Island of Gems, had crossed the waters of the Great Divide Next day I consigned her body to the deep wrapped in her robe of white tapa cloth which formed her shroud

I was now alone upon the waste of waters, with barely three days'

provisions between me and a slow and painful death To add to my anxieties I could see that the weather, which had been cale Storathered on the horizon The sun was obscured Rain fell, and the wind rose until it bleith the force of a teed, with difficulty, to unshi+p the sail, and devotedthe boat, which threatened at any reen water which came aboard of her All that day, and the next, I was driven by the storm whither I knew not The fruit which remained from our store was now rendered uneatable by reason of the salt water, in which it washed from side to side as the boat tossed and buffeted upon her way A was fa to life, and my last act of consciousness was to secure myself by a rope to the thwart upon which I lay

I was brought back to life by a flask of spirits held todown at ed boat

”Hold up, lad,” said e hich I ell acquainted ”We'll have you aboard the 'Seagull' in a jiff, and to-morrow you'll be as fit as a buck rat”

I then saw that a shi+p's boat was alongside the cutter, manned by four men The weather had by this tih It was therefore no easy matter to shi+ft me from the cutter into the boat, for I was helpless and weak as a child froth effected the transfer, e ull”, which lay hove to half aaboard this vessel I was taken below and treated with great kindness, when, after my wet clothes had been set to dry, I was put into a warht to me, which, when I had taken it, sentlad to find that the belt in which I carried ht it ems, for I well knew that if they were found uponheard so e to England, whither his shi+p was bound

I found the crew of the brig ”Seagull” to be a rough lot, of mixed nationalities, but Captain Bland, as in coe of two years in these latitudes Upon learningon the ”Arms of Amsterdam” he made me his secondon board the brig

It e froes to that of civilized ainst my life I realized hoise it is to becolish shi+p withoutas we sailed upon uncharted seas, but e entered home waters we kept a sharp look-out for pirates and free-booters, who at this time took toll from all whonals with passing vessels, frohted in close proxi down upon us As the as in favour of the pirates, for such we judged the foul after her long voyage, so the men were mustered and made ready for action

While these preparations were on foot I could not help adlish sailors set about their work There was no hurry or confusion in their methods Each man knew his duty, and was ready to do it

With shouts and yells froed alongside, and the grappling irons were hove athwart our bulwarks I sent a shower of grape froe, upon the deck of the schooner, killing four of the pirates and wounding others, but this failed to stop the boarding party, who noareneral, and, led by Captain Bland, we engaged the robbers with such goodwill that we had al them over the side when the second schooner came up, and a fresh horde of ruffians joined in the attack Retreating aft, we again h it was evident that, in the end, we must be overpowered, outnumbered, as ere, three to one

Still we continued to fight on with no thought of surrender, for we knew that capture would lish on our side were killed, besides seven or eight of those of other nationalities, whilst athering mist made it impossible to ascertain the extent of our losses Captain Bland now placed hiether we held the pirates at bay

”This can't last, Van Bu,” he said, ”and I am resolved that my shi+p shall not fall into the hands of these scoundrels”

”What can you do?” I answered, without pausing in azine sooner than let them take her,” replied Bland

”Keep theether”

With these words he sprang to the hatchhile I continued to fight on, expecting every iven up hope, and the suspense of awaiting the expected catastrophe was so acute that I had almost made up my mind to throw myself overboard and take ed out of the smoke, and the hull of a side, while a nu upon our decks At the sight of the King'saboard their schooners, and endeavoured to ht back, to be afterwards tried and hanged at the yard-arm

When the man-o'-war's men boarded us, I ran down the co senseless at the foot of the ladder Fortunately for him, and for all of us, he had been stunned by a blow from one of the pirates as he descended, and was thus prevented froazine

This was e, and sohted a Dutch vessel bound for Amsterdam, to which, at my request, I was transferred

CHAPTER XXV