Done, who had recovered the feeling of annoyance his impulsive
interference had occasioned him, watched them, rejoicing in sympathy. He
had brought no particular respect for law and order from the Old Land,
and this happy revolt delighted him. He would have loved to join the
merry adventurers in their defiance of authority. It was grand! Lustily
he sang the chanty, and as the boats, loaded down with sailors and their
traps, and towing astern in the warm sea strings of deserters for whom
there was no room aboard, moved off, he leaned over the bulwarks waving
his hat, and shouted with all the power of his lungs:

'Good luck to you, boys!'

They answered with a cheer, forgetting all differences in their present
robust animal spirits. Ryan sprang up in one of the boats.

'Come wid us, man; why don't you?' he cried.

Jim had a strong impulse to follow, but a small hand seized his.

'No, no--please, no!' whispered Lucy at his side.

He shook his head at the men. After all, there was no occasion for him to
run away; he was bound to no man.

The sailors had taken the key of the Captain's cabin with them, and by
the time Evan and the mate were liberated the crew of the Francis Cadman
and all the sailors under contract to the distracted owners of vessels
riding idle and helpless on Corio Bay and Hobson's Bay had disappeared
amongst the ti-tree fringing the shore, leaving the ship's boats afloat.
Five sailors remained aboard--one, the boatswain, was temporarily