"I'm afraid he's a traitor. Where's Palmer?"
"He has not turned out."
"If either of the pirates attempts to come on deck by the companion-way, shoot him, Captain York. We must not mince the matter now. It is life and death with us."
"That's so; and I will not flinch," replied the captain.
"Mr. Sanderson and I will go below, if you and Baxter, who is forward, will ascertain where Grego, Sylvio, and Pedro are. Let us be sure that we have the deck before we do anything below."
"All right, Mr. Farringford."
The captain walked forward, and the mate and myself, with our revolvers ready for use, went down into the cabin. The lantern was burning below the skylight, and we soon satisfied ourselves that the cabin had not yet been invaded by the conspirators. I waked Palmer, who slept on the transom under the stern ports, and had heard nothing yet. There were now three of us, and we were all well armed. All the guns and pistols had been removed from the steerage to the cabin, so that we were not likely to encounter an armed resistance if we made an onslaught upon the pirates.
"Palmer, where is the rum kept?" I asked.
"In the hold; there are two or three barrels of it. There are half a dozen demijohns of liquor here in the cabin."
"But nearly all the men are drunk. Where did they get their liquor?"