Morning came, though, at last, as bright and sunny as if man never troubled the earth with his struggles, and as the sun arose the extent of the past night's troubles were more clearly seen; for the doctor's account showed that of their own party four had rather serious wounds, while two of the enemy lay dead, having succumbed to their injuries during the night. To get rid of the dangerous party below was the next thing; and at last surrounding the forecastle hatch, the cable was cast off, and as soon as the opening was laid bare Laure darted up, sword in one hand, pistol in the other, but Dutch seized one hand, Captain Studwick the other, and he was disarmed, and roughly thrown down into the little cabin from which Hester had been rescued, and the hatch secured. Having now no leader, the other men came sulkily on deck, and gave up their arms without a struggle, and all were ordered over the side into the boat, a plentiful supply of beef and biscuit was furnished to them, with a couple of guns and ammunition, and they were rowed ashore, to make the best of their way to any settlement they could find. "And now for the senor," said Captain Studwick, as he returned with his well-armed party, after setting Laure's followers ashore. "We must not set him ashore with those scoundrels," said Dutch, firmly, "or he will contrive some plot to get back with them and retake the ship." Hester shuddered as she heard his words. "What would you do, then?" exclaimed Mr Parkley. "Keep him on board until we find some place to set him ashore, a couple or three hundred miles away--anywhere away from here." There was so much reason in Dutch's words that it was decided to follow his advice, repugnant as it was to have the villain with them in the ship. "And now then," said the captain, "my motto is, homeward bound; though we cannot sail with wind and tide like this." "But we must not stay so near the land," exclaimed Mr Parkley, glancing uneasily towards the sands, where the followers of the Cuban had been landed. "I'm afraid we must," was the reply; "but surely we can contrive to keep our prize, now we have got the upper hand." The feeling that they could neither sail nor get rid of Laure acted like some great depressing influence on board, but the matter was inevitable, for to have set him ashore would have been like putting fire to gunpowder, which was safe enough left alone, so careful arrangements were made, and these being in the face of them thoroughly secure, a more satisfactory influence began to pervade the vessel, and the partners congratulated one another on the escape they had had. As for Oakum and Rasp, they went from one to the other, chuckling and enjoying the interpretation that had been placed upon their behaviour, Oakum in particular seeming to think it the height of human enjoyment to have been thought such a scoundrel when he was straining every nerve to save his friends.