'
"I was doing so when I heard footsteps coming slowly down the
companion. A moment after, two crashing blows were struck upon the
door-panel and Colliver's voice cried--
"'Trenoweth, you dog, are you hiding there? Give me up those papers
and come out.'
"For answer I sent a charge of shot through the cabin door, and in an
instant heard him scrambling back with all speed up the stairs.
"By this time it was about 3 a.m., and to add to the horrors of our
plight the lamp suddenly went out and left us in utter darkness.
I drew Mrs. Concanen aside--after strengthening the barricade about
the door--put her and the child in a corner where she would be safe
if they attempted to fire through the skylight, and then sat down
beside her to consider.
"If, as I suspected, the mutineers had only the revolver which they
had taken from the captain, they had but one shot left, for I had
already counted five, and it was not likely that Holding--who always,
as I knew, carried some weapon with him--would have any loose
cartridges upon him at a time when no one suspected the least danger.
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