"What for?" cried Mr Frewen; but he did that which was asked all the same, and handed the barrels to me. "What are you going to do?" whispered the captain. "One minute, sir, and I'll show you," I said. "Let me come there, Mr Denning." That gentleman altered his position a little, so that I could reach through the opening and let the ends of the barrels rest upon the deck, close to the powder, which I could just see scattered about the flooring. Directly after, I had raised my can and was carefully trickling the water down through one of the barrels with such good effect that the explosive grains were either saturated or borne away. I had been sending the little stream through for some moments before it was seen, and the first intimation we had of the mutineers noticing our defence was the explosion of a pistol, and simultaneously a dull, cracking sound as a bullet passed through the door and was buried in the trunk behind it. "That don't matter, Berriman," cried Jarette; "we have plenty of powder, and you can't say the same about water." I started at this, for it struck me that I had been pouring precious drops away which might mean life. But I laughed directly after, as I recalled the fact that we had only to drop a bucket out of the stern-windows and haul up as much salt water as we liked. Mr Frewen must have been thinking the same thing, for directly after he and Mr Brymer attached pieces of new halyard to a couple of tin pails, and threw them out of the window, and drew them up full, ready for the next attempt to lay powder. "No need to pour away the precious drops now," said Mr Frewen. "But we must have down some of those chests so as to get at the powder easily." The words had hardly left his lips when there was the sharp report of Mr Denning's piece, followed directly after by a second shot, and the rush of feet upon the deck. CHAPTER FIFTEEN. "Well!" said the captain grimly. "Did you bring down your gaol-bird, sir?" "No," replied Mr Denning, as he drew back and began to reload. "I could not see any one, only that a bag of powder was being thrust along the deck with a hand-spike, and I fired at where I thought a man might be." "And hit him, seemingly," said Mr Frewen. "Now then, we must down with some of these trunks." They were seized directly, and pulled away, so that had we liked we could have opened the door widely; and Mr Denning now took up his position here, while Mr Frewen and Mr Preddle stood ready each with their guns, which had not yet been discharged, while I and Mr Brymer were in charge of the two buckets of water. There was now plenty of room for any one to look round the edge of the door and make an observation; and though our position was a good deal weakened, this was to some extent counterbalanced by the chests and trunks being built across as a breastwork, behind which the guns were stationed, Mr Brymer and I being between the breastwork and the door.