Still fighting, the sailors at length reached the boats prepared for their reception. Captain Johnson ordered the wounded to be placed in the launch, and getting into the other boat with Tranquil, Quoniam, and the sound men, he put off from the shore, towing the boat that served as an ambulance. This daring retreat, effected under the enemy's fire, was carried out with admirable precision and skill. One part of the crew of the pinnace fired at the Mexicans who lined the beach, while the other portion pulled vigorously in the direction of the brig. Ere long the coast disappeared in the fog, the shouts of the enemy became less distinct, the shots ceased, the lights flashing on the shore died out one after the other, and all grew silent again. "Ah!" the Captain said with a sigh of relief, as he offered his hand to Master Lovel, "without you, father, we were lost." "Aha!" the old sailor answered with a hearty grin, and rubbing his hands joyously, "I suspected that if you had a secret from me, it was because you meditated some act of folly, so that is why I came after you." The Captain merely replied to his worthy mate's remark by a fresh squeeze of the hand. Carmela, with her hands clasped and eyes raised above, was praying fervently, while returning thanks to Heaven for her miraculous deliverance. "This is the girl you have saved," Tranquil said; "it is to you I owe the recovery of my daughter, and I shall not forget it, Captain." "Nonsense, old hunter," the Captain said, laughingly, "I only kept the promise I made you; did I not pledge myself to help you, even at the risk of my life?" "And you were uncommonly near losing your stake," Master Lovel observed. "After all, though," he added gallantly, "though I am no connoisseur, I can perfectly understand a man risking his skin to board so neat a corvette." This sally restored the gaiety of the sailors, which the grave events that had occurred had temporarily dissipated. "Are we really out of danger, father?" the maiden asked with a shudder of fear, which she was unable to conceal. "Yes, my child; keep your spirits up," the hunter answered, "we are now in safety." At this very moment, the sailors, as if wishing to confirm the Canadian's assurance, or perhaps with the wish to mock the enemies they had so barely escaped, struck up one of those cadenced songs which serve to mark time, and the words of which each repeats as he lays out on his oars. Master Lovel, after turning and returning several times the enormous quid that swelled his right cheek, made a signal to the crew of the pinnace, and struck up in a rough voice a stanza, which all repeated in chorus after him. This song, which was as interminable as a sailor's yarn, would, in all probability, have lasted much longer, if the Captain had not suddenly ordered silence by an imperious gesture. "Is a new danger threatening us?" Tranquil inquired anxiously.