202 THE BOY CAPTAIN.

have been inevitable, for the stationary chair upon which
she had been leaning was splintered into fragments, and
this fact gave Ben to understand that it was more neces-
sary he should make some effort to guard his little crew
against another assault of this kind, than to attack the
mutineers immediately.

«Come below with me, Bob,” he said, as he opened the
small hatch leading to the lazaret. “If we can put up
something to screen the skylight, it will be possible for us
to move around without danger of having our heads split
open.”

While making the inspection of the brig on first taking
command, he remembered having seen a couple of new
topsails in this place, and to bring these into the saloon
was now his object.

In the lazaret the general stores were also kept, and he
found sufficient rope of convenient size with which to
carry his plan into execution.

Half an hour later both topsails were suspended directly
beneath the skylight, the ends being made fast to different
corners of the saloon, and the double thickness of canvas
would resist any ordinary weight which might be thrown
upon it from above.

This screen would also shut the inmates of the saloon
out from view of those on deck, and now it was possible
to light the lamps once more, for until this was done they
had been forced to move around in darkness.

“JT reckon we’ll keep those fellows from using us as
targets,” Ben said, in a tone of satisfaction, “and there’s