I spent four years at sea with him, and during that time I had those terrible fights with the Algerines, of which I have before spoken.

In the last battle, I was captured, and compelled to walk the plank." "What do you mean by that ?" asked Johnny, who had never devoted any of his time to yellow-covered literature.
"Why, you must know that the inhabitants of Algiers, and the adjacent countries, were, at one time, nothing but pirates.

When they captured a vessel, their first hard work, after taking care of the valuable part of the cargo, was to dispose of their prisoners.

It was too much trouble to set them ashore, so they balanced a plank out of one of the gangways--one end being out over the water, and the other on board the ship.

The pirates placed their feet on the end inboard, to hold it in its place, and then ordered their prisoners, one at a time, to walk out on the plank.