"Thou hast borne thyself right gallantly in the fray," he said. "I almost feared to look, when I saw thee alone in the midst of the foe. But what has become of Oliver? I saw him but a moment ago." I looked around; he was nowhere in sight. "I hope no harm has befallen him," I replied anxiously. "But I lost sight of him in the fray, and I know not where he could be." "Oliver!" shouted Drake, raising his voice, "where art thou?" "Here," answered a muffled voice, which sounded as though it came from the bowels of the earth. "Where?" I shouted. "I can see naught of thee." "Up near the mast," he replied. "I am under a pile of bodies, which, from the feeling of my back, must be at least a mile high." Treading among the dead, with which the deck was covered, we at last reached the place from which the voice proceeded. There, from under one side of a huge pile of the slain, protruded the legs of the lad. 'Twould have been laughable, had it not been for the gravity of the surroundings. The lad's head was on the other side from us, his body pinned down under the dead, who had fallen crosswise over him, and had doubtless protected his life in the fight by concealing him from view. I smiled as I saw the spindling legs. "Thou seemest comfortable and easy where thou liest--no doubt resting from the fatigue of the day. We had perhaps best leave thee where thou art; 'twill keep thee out of mischief." "Comfortable!" he shouted. "My back is almost broken with the weight upon it. I feel like Atlas bearing the world upon my shoulders. Pull them off, I tell thee!" Drake had roared when I had teased the boy. He now lent a hand, and we pulled off the six or eight bodies that lay upon him, the last one being that of the tawny-bearded Spaniard who had led the attack upon me. His face was still hard and fierce, as when he had fallen in the heat of the fray. We lifted the last one aside and helped Oliver to his feet; he was sore and stiff, but unhurt, as he informed us in answer to our anxious inquiry. "Had it not been for yonder red-bearded fellow," he said, "it would have gone hard with me. I tripped as they came down upon us, and as I fell he rushed at me. One of our men cut him down, and he fell upon my body. Before I could arise another had fallen, and so they kept piling up until I was so weighed down that I could not get upon my feet again." "Half of my men have fallen," Drake said sorrowfully, as we walked aft, and he stopped to survey a pile of the dead. In truth 'twas a scanty crew that greeted us as we stood among them. Of the three hundred men who had gone into the fight only about seventy-five bloodstained survivors remained; but they were undaunted and unconquerable, as waving their gory swords, they gathered around us.