"I shall use it if the case requires; but I hope it will not be necessary to shoot any one. Sanderson has been down to see me."
"No!"
"Yes, he has. The men are as true as we could wish. But we won't waste any time," I added, moving towards the door which led into the between-decks. "Sanderson is close by, I suppose."
"But what am I to do?"
"Go with us into the cabin. We shall secure the mate first. Take those lines with you, for we must tie him hand and foot."
"Do you know how the second mate stands?"
"He's all right, though he don't say much, being an officer. Baxter will take care of him. While Martino and Gorro stay aloft, there will be nothing to do on deck. Now wait here till we come."
I took his lantern, and went between decks, where I found Sanderson as impatient as though he had been waiting for his grog.
"I was afraid something had happened," said he, in tremulous accents.
"No; everything is as well as it could be; better than I anticipated. Everybody in the cabin except the mate is drunk, and the steward says Gorro and Martino are on the cross-trees."