"I was huntin' ov your pines, sir; they were werry scarce, and I came off the moment I got 'em."
"That will do, you brute; you have the best of me this time," said Crushe, with a grin.
So Jerry got the better of Puffeigh, Oldcrackle, and Crushe, and not one pang of remorse ever seemed to trouble him with regard to Alayā. Perhaps we do not know what he felt. She certainly was too good for the fellow they married her to very shortly afterwards, and to this day Alayā dreams of the "beautiful captain sahib," who made her heart beat so.
The Stinger sailed at 9 A.M., and Oldcrackle never saw his real cousin. When Puffeigh was on his way back to England he only remained at Singapore an hour; and not having much regard for his wife's relation, he did not call upon the hospitable merchant, so the fraud was never discovered.
The letter which Puffeigh gave Thompson was posted by the latter in the galley fire.
CHAPTER X.
When Singapore was well out of sight Crushe mustered the deserters, kept until that time below in irons. Thirty-five men and one boy answered to their names, and were paraded before him. Among them were many of his pets, who, until their attempt at desertion, had been considered reliable fellows. These he surveyed with unmitigated disgust, as much as to say, "You brutes, after I have loaded you with favours, you turn upon me and desert, like the rest of them." The boy was no other than "the son of Bill Jordun," who, in spite of the guardianship of Old Jemmy, had contrived to reach the shore in an empty water-tank, there to be duly collared and returned to the kind care of the humane lieutenant. Crushe determined to flog the child, as an example to the other boys: consequently, when the deserters were mustered, he singled out the lad, and bullied him in a most unmerciful manner.