"Where are the pirates?"
"Gone," said he.
"Is that the way you do your duty?"
"I could not help it."
"Couldn't help it!" added the mate, sternly. "Why didn't you fire at the first man that attempted to escape?"
"I couldn't," he answered, as Palmer appeared with the lantern.
The light revealed his situation, and we were not disposed to blame him till we heard more. He was lashed to the stanchion where Waterford had been confined, with his hands tied behind him. The four pirates were not in the berths where we had left them, and the cords that had bound them were scattered about the deck.
"What does this mean?" I demanded of Franklin.
"I don't know; only that I was knocked down, my pistol taken from me, and I was bound to this stanchion," replied the sentinel, sheepishly.
"Who knocked you down?"