captain would have been shot, an' killed, only a fellow named Mike
Tullane, a rough character, an' one of the leaders of th' mutiny,
stepped up sudden like an' saved th' captain's life by knockin' aside
th' ruffian's gun.

"Well, of course there was a fight then, but Mike seemed t' come out all
right, bein' a leader, an' havin' th' men pretty well with him. Anyhow,
th' mutineers were in charge of th' ship, an' off Anegada, one of th'
little British Islands of the West Indies, we were put about t' run for
port. Jest what was t' be done no one seemed to know. After the men got
th' ship they didn't know what to do with her.

"Then came th' mystery. One night th' captain an' Mike Tullane
disappeared. They was seen in th' cabin, talkin' together, an' some of
th' hot-headed ones thought Mike was goin' back on his pals. They was
for makin' him walk th' plank.

"But cooler heads made 'em wait. They said they wanted t' give Mike a
chance to explain. But he never got it."

"Do you mean they--" began Alice, somewhat horrified.

"I mean that night he an' th' captain disappeared," Jack said. "They
couldn't be found anywhere. No boat was taken, so they couldn't have
gotten off in one of them craft, an' we wasn't near enough land t' make
swimmin' safe. But they totally disappeared, an' that was th' mystery.
Whether they had a fight, an' jumped overboard together in th' darkness,
no one ever knowed, for them mutineers didn't keep extra good watch.

"But anyhow they was gone--mysteriously missin' as they say in the