was unable to keep the boat's head to the sea, or indeed to manage it at
all, he fairly jumped into the water and swam lustily towards the launch.
As he was expert at this exercise, he arrived safely, cursing in his heart
all travelling, the desert, the Arabs, and mankind in general, wishing
himself quietly back in Dodgeopolis again, among his beloved people. The
boat drove upon the sands, of course, and was eventually taken care of by
two of the Montauk's crew.

As soon as Captain Truck found himself on the deck of the Dane, the arms
were distributed among the people. It was clearly his policy not to
commence the war, for he had nothing, in an affirmative sense, to gain by
it, though, without making any professions, his mind was fully made up not
to be taken alive, as long as there was a possibility of averting such a
disaster. The man aloft gave constant notice of the movements of the
Arabs, and he soon announced that they had halted at a pistol's shot from
the bank, where they were securing their camels, and that his first
estimate of their force was true.

In the mean time, Captain Truck was far from satisfied with his position.
The bank was higher than the deck of the ship, and so near it as to render
the bulwarks of little use, had those of the Dane been of any available
thickness, which they were not. Then, the position of the ship, lying a
little on one side, with her bows towards the land, exposed her to being
swept by a raking fire; a cunning enemy having it in his power, by making
a cover of the bank, to pick off his men, with little or no exposure to
himself. The odds were too great to sally upon the plain, and although
the rocks offered a tolerable cover towards the land, they had none
towards the ship. Divide his force he dared not do,--and by abandoning the
ship, he would allow the Arabs to seize her, thus commanding the other
position, besides the remainder of the stores, which he was desirous