It was, therefore, a distinctly unfortunate circumstance for Rogers that he should, a moment or two previously, have awakened from his drunken sleep and staggered to his feet with, apparently, some confused notion of taking a look round the ship and assuring himself that all was right; for, coming face to face with Forbes and _Joe_ as they rounded the corner of the galley, he was promptly felled by the latter with a blow from a belaying-pin that must have caused him discomfort for many a day afterwards, while its immediate effect was to stretch him out upon the deck senseless and bleeding. The sound of his fall disturbed one or two of the rest--all of whom were sprawled out inertly upon the foredeck, in the midst of empty and overturned bottles and pannikins--just sufficiently to cause them to raise their heads and grumble out a few unintelligible words; but we had no difficulty whatever with them, and in less than half an hour we had the whole of them securely bound, hand and foot, and lying at our mercy. Having reduced them to this condition, and disarmed them, we distributed them about the deck fore and aft, lashing each man separately to a ringbolt, cleat, or other convenient mooring in such a way that no man might be within another's reach--for I had heard before now of men releasing each other by working at the lashings with their teeth--and then left them to recover their sober senses at their leisure, while we busied ourselves about other matters. Our first act was to lower the port quarter-boat, get into her, and pull ashore to the creek, where we found Sir Edgar and his party pretty much as I had left them; he and Miss Merrivale being the only two still awake. Our arrival was greeted with a shout of delight from the baronet that effectually awoke the sleepers; and the whole party quickly tumbled into the boat, Sir Edgar and Lady Emily vying with each other in the heartiness of their congratulations at our success and the eagerness with which they asked for details of the adventure. Miss Merrivale, on the contrary, was strangely silent, contenting herself with a warm clasp of the hand at the moment of our reunion; and presently, when we had shoved off again for the ship, I noticed that she was furtively crying. I concluded that the reaction from the long hours of suspense that she had just passed through had proved rather too much for her nerves, and so prudently appeared to take no notice whatever of her little break-down. We soon reached the ship, and, upon my solemn assurance that they might do so with absolute safety, the rescued party at once retired below to their respective cabins; Miss Merrivale only lingering behind for a moment to say-- "I have no words to express how glad and thankful I am that you have been successful in your hazardous enterprise. You are a brave man, as well as a--But,"--with a sudden, merry smile, "I will not say more, lest I make you vain. Good night!"