In a twinkling every man jack of us was lining the starboard rail, looking curiously behind to see who would dare show himself mutinously inclined. No one remained on the port side, and Captain Porter looked pleased; but the end of the matter was not yet, as he then proved by saying:-- "Let Bob White come forward!" The mutinous sailor obeyed sheepishly; and when he stood out from the rest of us, a mark for every eye, the captain said sternly:-- "This is the man who has reported that you had not only agreed to disobey orders, but were ready to turn pirates for the sake of spending your lives on the island. He who will spin such yarns about honest sailormen is not fit to associate with them. Mr. McKnight," he added, turning to my cousin Stephen, "see to it that this scoundrel is dropped into one of the canoes which are hanging around, and let it be understood that the sentries are to fire at him if he makes any effort to come aboard again." My cousin had hardly more than stepped off the quarter to give the necessary order, when Master Hackett and a couple of his cronies seized Bob White, and before one could have counted ten the mutineer was kicking and splashing in the water alongside. They had not taken the trouble to see whether a canoe was close at hand. There were so many islanders near about, however, that White was speedily picked up, and from that time he was never seen again, unless, perchance, it may have been by those who garrisoned the fort. Then, after thanking us for what we had already done while under his command, and for what he expected we would do in the future, the captain dismissed us that we might get about the work of the day. It was only natural that while engaged in this task or the other my mind should be filled with thoughts of the insubordination, and the possible result if the crew had been able to remain on the island. The seamen among us who had had the most experience in such matters, believed that we stood but little show against those ships which had been sent from England in search of us; that the _Essex_ would never round Cape Horn with the stars and stripes flying. In such case we had only death or imprisonment to look forward to, and it is not so very surprising that some of the men should desire to remain among the islanders. As for myself, and I can also speak for Phil in the same words, cowardly at heart though I was, it seemed far wiser to make a brave fight for it than go into voluntary exile among cannibals. Yet, while I thus decided, there was a great fear in my heart concerning our fate, and I would have given up anything I possessed, with a mortgage on everything which might come to me in the future, had it been possible to step at that moment into my own quiet home. I had seen enough of war, although having viewed it only from the brightest side, and I quaked at the prospect of what lay before us, even though we might, in the end, succeed in giving our enemies the slip.