From a point of vantage he heard every word, and formed his plans.
The prisoners were not placed in irons, and so only the slight barrier of a door stood between them and the freedom of the deck.
The night was dark and the fog more dense.
It was at three bells, or half-past one in the morning, that the attempt was to be made.
Tempest arranged his plans, and to all appearance everything went on as usual.
A few minutes before the striking of three bells, three of the crew of the Lively Bee might have been seen creeping cautiously to the top of the companionway.
Had any one been there to watch most minutely, he would have seen that each of the three was armed with pistol and marlin-spike.
The bells struck, and a man felt his way cautiously up the companionway.
He had only just slipped on the deck when a terrific blow from a marlin spike held by Tempest felled him to the deck.
Another man crept up just as quietly to meet the same fate, while a third, thinking something was wrong, saved his life by hesitating.