"Silence!" cried the captain, sternly. "I'm afraid I shall have to recall this as a mark against you, Dance, when the time comes for promotion. It is very plain, sir, that you do know, and will not speak. Hark here, my lads, I am going to pass this over. I cannot punish two ignorant, half-savage men for resenting a cruel attack upon them--cruel and cowardly. Go below now, and show me in the future that you have too much common sense to play such boys' tricks again. Let the two blacks step out." Efforts were made to induce the two Africans to advance, but without avail. "Now, are those men coming aft?" said the captain, sternly; but there was only a buzzing sound below, and something extremely like a scuffle. "Beg pardon, sir; they don't understand," said Bob Howlett. "They'd come up if I spoke to 'em." "Then go down and send them aft--or no," said the captain, impatiently. "I want them to understand that they are pardoned, but that there must be no violence again. There, that's enough, Mr Staples. Pipe the men below." "And that's an end of it," whispered Bob Howlett, as soon as the captain was out of hearing. "I say, Van, wasn't old Joe Dance a trump?" CHAPTER THIRTEEN. THE ENEMY ONCE MORE. "All this time sailing here and there," said Mark one day, "and not done a bit of good." "Do you hear that, Mr Whitney?" cried Bob. "There's gratitude, when it has been just as if we were under orders to keep at sea so as to get him and Mr Russell well again; and look at 'em now. Why, it has quite cured 'em both." "And their doctor has done nothing, Mr Bob Howlett?" "Oh, I didn't mean that, sir, exactly," said that gentleman, colouring a little. "Of course you have done them a lot of good, sir, and--" "There, you are only floundering about, young gentleman, and making worse of it," said the doctor, gruffly. "Wait a bit; you will be laid by the heels one of these days, and then you will sing a very different song. But you are a wonderful deal better, Vandean, and I congratulate you. I shall not have to ask for you to be sent home." "Oh yes, I'm much better, sir," cried Mark. "Well, don't talk as if you were afraid I was going to order you pills and draught. I've done with you, but you had better be careful Mr Russell can go on without me now. As for Mr Howlett here--well, we'll wait for that." He gave Bob a curious look and strolled away, leaving that gentleman with his face screwed up in a way which made Mark burst out laughing. "Oh yes, it's all very well for you to grin," grumbled Bob; "you're out of the wood. He don't like me, and you see if he doesn't serve me out first chance he gets." "Then you should have been more careful about what you said." "Well, I was. I do believe he'd like to have me down in his cabin to cut up for experiment, and to practise physic on. Ugh! the old wretch!" he continued, with a shudder.