Black Davis and the bosun did their best to thrash the matter out, but at last gave it up as hopeless. "Must a' been some one foolin' on deck," suggested the bosun. "But the voice came from aloft, man; the whole watch was hyeh with me. It weren't none er my crowd; I'll lay a hundred dollars thar's none o' them got the nerve to go monkeyin' with me like that," replied the mate impatiently. "An' there ain't no parrot aboard. Well, it beats all my goin' to sea," muttered the other. "My crowd was all in the foc's'le 'cept Derringer, who was doin' a doss on deck, an' I see'd him standin' in your mob as I come along aft." "Wall, then, if he was with my crowd o' hoodlums, it couldn't ha' been him, though if thar's any deadbeat aboard who's got the cheek ter do it, it's thet durned Britisher." A curious grim smile appeared on Jack's face as his sharp ears caught the mate's remark. Like the others, he had been awakened by the first groan. As it ceased he heard a long-drawn breath, and looking round, spied the small white face of the ship's boy, outlined by the moonlight, as he crouched up against the mast behind the pump wheel. Even as he watched he saw the small mouth open, at the same moment the groan broke out again, apparently by the midshiphouse. Silently Jack gazed, marvelling. No sound seemed to come from the boy, but as the groan ceased his mouth closed, and he drew a long breath. "Well, I'm jiggered," muttered Jack to himself. "The boy's a ventriloquist, and a wonderful one at that." Then the kid threw his voice into the mizzen-top, and the words which had caused such consternation burst forth. This time his mouth was nearly closed, and only a very keen observer could have detected any movement in his lips. "Great Harry! If Black Davis were to catch the nipper at that game he'd kill him," mused Jack; and thinking that the performance had gone quite far enough, he drew himself under the fife-rail with the silence of a stalking Apache, and then suddenly pounced on the boy, clapping one hand over his mouth to prevent any cry of alarm. "Hush, not a sound!" he hissed, as he took his hand from the kid's mouth. "Don't split on me, Derringer, don't split on me. I'll never do it again, so help me bob," half blubbered the terrified urchin. "Honest Injun?" inquired Jack. "Honest Injun!" repeated the boy. "Well, I'll pull you through this time; but don't breathe a word of this to another soul aboard," said Jack softly. "Be sure I won't," whimpered the kid. "Right! Now we've got to slip into that crowd there without them spotting that we've not been there the whole time; savvy, youngster? Keep your pecker up and mum's the word," whispered the rover. "Hang me, but the lad's got nerve, and I like the look of him, too," he thought, as the pair of them stealthily joined the group of scared men. "What's your name, kid?" asked Jack in an undertone, whilst the bosun was searching aloft.