CHAPTER III


THE GUNNER OF THE SLOOP

Swiftly and silently the _Tremendous_ spread her wings in the dusk.

The riding-officer was going over the side.

"Good luck, sir!" he said. "Make a cop; and Pitt'll thank you on his
knees."

For all answer the block-of-granite little man by the wheel
turned his back.

"Cut the cable!" he barked. "Set studdin-sails alow and aloft! Inboard
side-lights! Boniface, take a party of small-arm men forrad, and keep a
sharp look-out!"

Before the riding-officer had dropped into the dinghy, the
_Tremendous_ began to slap the water, shaking out ragged topsails
as she slid out of the harbour, a misty rain shrouding her.

"There's a row-boat coming up astern, sir," ventured the boy--"rowing
like mad."

"I have ears, sir, and I'm usin em," snapped the other, and stumped
forward, leaning heavily on a stick, thick and surly as himself.