"Either on us hit?" he said coolly, as I clapped my hand to my ear, which felt as if a jet of cold air had touched it. "Don't think I touched him, sir, but he has cut off. I can hear him going. Not hurt, are you, sir?" "No; a bullet must have gone close to my ear," I said. "Oh yes; I felt that, sir. It went between us. But it's no use to take no notice o' misses." "Well?" I said; for one of the men behind me now touched my arm, and I found it was Bob Saunders. "We're getting dead down at the head, sir; hadn't we better begin stowing aft?" "Yes, yes, of course," I said excitedly, and feeling annoyed that I had not thought of this myself. "Then, if you'll make the lads ease off to starboard and port, sir, we'll soon pack a row of these here little bales between 'em. Or look here, sir! how would it be to bring 'em a bit amidships, and let us begin right astarn, and build up a sort o' bulwark o' bales? They could fire from behind it when we'd done." "Yes, capital!" I cried, once more annoyed with myself because I, a mere boy, had not the foresight of an experienced man. "No, no," I cried the next moment. "How could we get at the tiller?" "You won't want no tiller, sir; we can row aboard easy enough, once we get out o' this fiddling little drain." "You are right, Saunders," I said. "Go on." All the while the men astern were keeping up a steady fire, which certainly had one effect, that of checking the enemy's advance. And now Saunders came aft with a bale on his head, keeping his balance wonderfully as he stepped over the thwarts. "Mind yer eye, Pigtail," he cried. "Keep back! Where are you coming?" growled a man who was loading. "Here, matey," cried Saunders; and he plumped the bale down right across the stern. "Hooroar!" cried Tom Jecks, stepping behind it, and resting his rifle on the top. No more was said, the men easing off out of the way as bale after bale was brought and planted in threes, so that when six had been placed there was a fine breast-work, which formed a splendid protection for those in the stern, and this was added to, until we were fairly safe from enemies behind. But once more we could hear them creeping nearer through the bushes on our right; the firing grew more dangerous, and there was nothing for it, I felt, but to order every man in the two boats to take his piece, shelter himself behind the bales, and help to beat the enemy back. It was a sad necessity, for I knew that the tide was falling very fast, and that before long we should be immovable; but to have kept on shifting the load and allow the enemy to get close in over our heads on the densely-clothed sides of the stream would, I knew, be madness; and the men showed how they appreciated the common-sense of the order by getting at once under cover, and then the sharp rattle of our fire was more than doubled.