"Just a bit ago, young man, I saw ye pointin’ a gun at one of yer shipmates and not only that, but pullin’ of the trigger," and he looked severely at Henry. "What of that? The revolver wasn’t loaded--it couldn’t harm anyone," stated Henry. "That’s where ye are wrong, lad, for it’s the gun what ain’t loaded which generally goes off and kills yer best friend. It’s the kind of accident ye read about in almost any paper ye pick up in any part of the world, and I’d make a bet with ye that the weapon the other fellow ’didn’t know was loaded’ since the invention of gun-powder has caused more deaths and serious accidents than have the aimed shots in actual warfare." "But, Corporal, I knew my pistol was empty," protested Henry; "I looked through the cylinder before I closed it. Besides, we’ve had no ammunition given us." "Nevertheless, what I say is true, Henry, and here is a safe rule for ye to follow for the rest of your life: never point a gun, loaded or unloaded, at any human bein’ unless ye mean to kill or wound him." At the instant Dorlan finished speaking a half dozen laughing bluejackets came running around a corner into the marines’ compartment. Following in close pursuit was a companion flourishing a noosed rope in one hand and a revolver in the other. As he appeared he called out: "Catch the bandits!" It was innocent horse play and the men in the vicinity turned to watch the chase. The "bandits" disappeared through a door on the port side of the deck, the pursuer aimed his revolver at them and pulled on the double-action trigger. There was a loud report and a leaden bullet flattened itself harmlessly against the iron bulkhead. The young apprentice seaman who had fired the shot stopped short and, with a white face, looked in horror at the smoking weapon as it fell from his nerveless grasp to the deck. "I never knew it was loaded!" he cried hoarsely. Reaching for the heavy Colt’s, Corporal Dorlan picked it up and broke open the cylinder,--every chamber but the one just discharged was filled with death. "Come up to the Officer of the Deck, young feller," ordered Dorlan grimly, taking the trembling sailor by the arm, and as they turned to leave, he looked towards Dick and Henry, saying: "As I said before--never point a gun unless ye mean to kill." No more salutary lesson could have been given than old Mike’s talk and its startling sequel. Out into the windward passage; northward then eastward into the trade-wind-tossed, white-capped waters of the Atlantic; past the mountainous shores of Haiti and the famous or infamous island of Tortuga, whence came the buccaneers and their notorious chief, Sir Henry Morgan.