A MYSTERIOUS TRANSFORMATION.
"Ha! ha! ha!" wildly laughed the wounded sailor. "That time he did not escape! Leave me to die, would he? Well, he is dead already, for I shot him through the brain!"
"That's where you are mistaken, Jaggers," said the cool voice of the boyish leader of the mutineers. "I saw your move, saw the revolver, and dropped in time to avoid the bullet."
Gage sprang to his feet.
A snarl of baffled fury came from the lips of the wounded sailor.
"The foul fiend protects you!" he cried. "See if you can dodge this bullet!"
He would have fired again, but Gage leaped forward in the darkness, kicked swiftly and accurately, and sent the revolver spinning from the man's hand.
"You have settled your fate!" hissed the boy, madly. "I did mean to have you taken away, and I was talking to torment you. Now you will stay here—and die like a dog!"
He turned from Jaggers, and hurried back to the boat, in which that muffled figure silently sat.
"Are you ready, boys?" he called.