UCSB UER-ARX UCSB L/BRARV X O THE OCEAN WAIFS A STORY OP ADVENTURE ON LAND AND SEA BY CAPTAIN MAYNE REID AUTHOR OF "THE DESERT HOME," "THE BOY HUNTERS," ETC., ETC. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS A NEW EDITION WITH A MEMOIR BY R. H. STODDARD NEW YORK JOHN W. LOVELL COMPANY 150 WORTH STREET, CORNER MISSION PLACE Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1869, by FIELDS, OSGOOD & CO., in the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1885, by THOMAS K. KNOX & CO., in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1889, by WORTHINGTON CO., in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. NEW YORK, January 1st. 1809. MESSRS. FIELDS, OSGOOD fc Co.: I accept the terms offered, and hereby concede to you the exclusive right of publication, in the United States, of all my juvenile Tales of Adventure, known as Boys' Novels. MAYNE REID. TROWS PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY, rtW YORK. ifEMOIR OF MAYKE REID. ITo one who has written books for the yonng during the present century ever had so large a circle of readers aa Captain Mayne Reid, or ever was so well fitted by circum- stances to write the books by which he is chiefly known. His life, which was an adventurous one, was ripened with the experience of two Continents, and his temperament which was an ardent one, reflected the traits of two races Irish by birth, he was American in his sympathies with the people of the New World, whose acquaintance he made at an early period, among whom he lived for years, \nd whose battles he helped to win. He was probably more familiar with the Southern and Western portion of the United States forty years ago than any native-born American of that time. A curious interest attaches to the life of Captain Reid, but it is not of the kind that casual biographers dwell upon. If he had written it himself it would have charmed thousands of readers, who can now merely imagine what it might have been from the glimpses of it which they obtain in his writings. It was not passed in the fierce light of publicity, but in that simple, silent obscurity which is the lot of most men, and is their hap- piness, if they only knew it. Briefly related, the life of Captain Reid was as follows : He was born in 1818, in the north of Ireland, the son of a Presbyterian clergyman, who was a type of the class which Goldsmith has described so freshly in the " Deserted Village," and was highly thought of for his labors among the poor of his neighborhood. An earnest, reverent man, to whom his calling was indeed a sacred one, he designed his son Mayne for the ministry, in the hope, no doubt, that he would be his successor. But nature had some- thing to say about that, as well as his good father. He bgan to study for the ministry, but it was not long befor* te was drawn in another direction. Always a great reader, his favorite books were descriptions of travel in foreign ^ands, particularly those which dealt with the scenery, the people, and the resources of America. The spell which these exercised over his imagination, joined to a love el adventure which was inherent in his temperament, and inherited, perhaps with his race, determined his career. At the age of twenty he closed his theological tomes, and girding up his loins with a stout heart he sailed from the chores of the Old World for the New. Following the spirit in his feet he landed at New Orleans, which waa probably a more promising field for a young man of his talents than any Northern city, and was speedily engaged in business. The nature of this business is not stated, further than it was that of a trader ; but whatever it was it obliged this young Irishman to make long journeys into the interior of the country, which was almost a terra in- cognita. Sparsely settled, where settled at all, it was still clothed in primeval verdure here in the endless reach of savannas, there in the depth of pathless woods, and far away to the North and the West in those monotonous ocean-like levels of land for which the speech of England has no name the Prairies. Its population was nomadic, not to say barbaric, consisting of tribes of Indians whose hunting grounds from time immemorial the region was', hunters and trappers, who had turned their backs upoa civilization for the free, wild life of nature ; men of doubtful or dangerous antecedents, who had found it con- venient to leave their country for their country's good ; and scattered about hardy pioneer communities from East- ern States, advancing waves of the great sea of emigration which is still drawing the course of empire westward. Travelling in a country like this, and among people like these, Mayne Reid passed five years of his early manhood. He was at home wherever he went, and never more so than when among the Indians of the Red River territory, with whom he spent several months, learning their lan- guage, studying their customs, and enjoying the wild and beautiful scenery of their camping grounds. Indian for the time, he lived in their lodges, rode with them, hunted with them, and night after night sat by their blazing amp-fires listening to the warlike stories of the bravea and the quaint legends of the medicine men. There was that in the blood of Mayne Reid which fitted him to lead this life at *>ua time, and whether he knew it or not i| 2 I educated Ms genltts as no other life eonld have done. It familiarized him with a large extent of country in the South and West ; it introduced him to men and manners which existed nowhere else ; and it revealed to him the cecrets of Indian life and character. There was another side, however, to Mayne Reid than that we have touched upon, and this, at the end of fivw years, drew him back to the average life of his kind. We find him next in Philadelphia, where he began to con- tribute stories and sketches of travel to the newspapers- and magazines. Philadelphia was then the most literate city in the United States, the one in which a clever writer was at once encouraged and rewarded. Frank and warm- hearted, }ie made many friends there among journalists and authors. One of these friends was Edgar Allan Poe, whom he often visited at his home in Spring Garden, and concerning whom years after, when he was dead, he wrote with loving tenderness. The next episode in the career of Mayne Reid was not what one would expect from a man of letters, though it Iras just what might have been expected from a man of his temperament and antecedents. It grew out of the time, which was warlike, and it drove him into the army with which the United States speedily crushed the forces of the sister Republic Mexico. He obtained a commis- sion, and served throughout the war with great bravery and distinction. This stormy episode ended with a severe wound, which he received in storming the heights of Cha- pultepec a terrible battle which practically ended the war. A second episode of a similar character, but with a more fortunate conclusion, occurred about four years later. It grew out of another war, which, happily for us, was not on our borders, but in the heart of Europe, where the Hun- garian race had risen in insurrection against the hated power of Austria. Their desperate valor in the face of tremen- dous odds excited the sympathy of the American people, and fired the heart of Captain Mayne Reid, who buckled on his sword once more, and sailed from New York with a body of volunteers to aid the Hungarians in their struggles for independence. They were too late, for hardly had they reached Paris before they learned that all was over: trorgey had surrendered at Arad, and Hungary was rushed. They were at once dismissed, and Captain betook himself to London. 3 The lifd of the Mayne Reid In whom we .arw dost in- terested Mayne Reid, the author began at this time, when he was in his thirty-first year, and ended only on the day of his death, October 21, 1883. It covered one- third of a century, and was, when compared with that which had preceded it, uneventful, if not devoid of in- cident. There is not much that needs be told not much, indeed, that can be told in the life of a man of letters like Captain Mayne Reid. It is written in his books. Mayne Reid was one of the best known authors of his time differing in this from many authors who are popu- lar without being known and in the walk of fiction which he discovered for himself he is an acknowledged mas* ter. His reputation did not depend upon the admiration of the millions of young people who read his books, but upon the judgment of mature critics, to whom his delinea- tions of adventurous life were literature of no common order. His reputation as a story-teller was widely recog- nized on the Continent, where he was accepted as an. authority in regard to the customs of the pioneers and tha guerilla warfare of the Indian tribes, and was warmly praised for his freshness, his novelty, and his hardy origi- nality. The people of France and Germany delighted in this soldier-writer. " There was not a word in his booka which a school-boy could not safely read aloud to his mother and sisters." So says a late English critic, to which another adds, that if he has somewhat gone out of fashion of late years, the more's the pity for the school-boy of the period. What Defoe is in Robinson Crusoe realistic idyl of island solitude that, in his romantic stories of wilder- tiss life, Is his great scholar, Captain Mayne Reid. U, E. 4 CONTENTS. rirrot ttm I. THE ALBATROSS 1 II. SHIP ON FIRE ........ I III. THE LORD'S PRATES 8 IV. HUNGER. DESPAIR ....... 12 V. FAITH. HOPE 15 VI. FLYING-FISH 18 VII. A CHEERING CLOUD 22 VIH. A CANVAS TANK 26 IX. A PLEASANT SHOWER-BATH ...... 29 X. THE PILOT-FISH f .. 82 XL A LENTEN DINNER . . . . . . .88 XII. FLENSING A SHARK 42 XIII. THE SUCKING-FISH , . 46 XIV. A SAIL OF SHARK-FLESH 49 XV. THE MYSTERIOUS VOICE 62 XVI. OTHER WAIFS * 66 XVII. How SNOWBALL ESCAPED FROM THE SLAYER . . 60 XVIII. SNOWBALL AMID THE DRIFT 64 XIX. SNOWBALL AT SEA ON A HENCOOP 68 XX. THE FLASH OF LIGHTNING ....'.. 71 XXI. To THE OARS 76 XXII. SHIP AHOY-! ,76 XXIII. THE RAFTS EN RAPPORT . . . . - , . 88 XXIV. RECONSTRUCTING THE RAFT .... bt> XXV. THE CATAMARAN . 89 XXVI. LITTLE WILLIAM AND LILLT LALKB ... 92 XXVII. Too LATB! ........ M XXVIII. u OVERBOARD]" ........ 99 IV CONTENTS. XXIX. SAVED! 101 XXX. THE ZYGANA . 10o XXXI. FACE TO FACE 11C XXXII. A RING PERFORMANCE .... . 113 XXXIII. THE CHASE OF THE CATAMARAN . . . .117 XXXIV. THB SAIL our OF SIGHT 121 XXXV. WAITING FOR DEATH 124 XXXVI. A CHEST AT SEA 127 XXXVII. AN IMPROVISED LIFE-PRESERVER .... 129 XXXVIII. CONJECTURES ABOUT THE CATAMARAN . . . 181 XXXIX. DOWN THE WIND 136 XL. LAUNCHING THE LIFE-FRESH RVEB .... 188 XLI. A LOOK-OUT FROM ALOFT 141 XLII. ONCE MORE ABOARD 146 XLIII. REFITTING THE RAFT 149 XLIV. THE ALBACORES 162 XLV. THE SWORD-FISH 166 XL VL THE SWORDSMAN OF THE SEA .... 169 XLVII. ANGLING FOR ALBAOORE 163 XLVIII. THE FRIGATE-BIRD 170 XLIX. BETWEEN TWO TYRANTS 176 L. SNOWBALL MAKING A SOMERSAULT . . . 179 LI. A THRUST THROUGH AND THROUGH .... 182 LIL AN AWKWARD GRIP 186 Lffi. GLOOMY PROSPECTS 190 LIV. THANKSGIVING 192 LV. SNOWBALL SEES LAND ...... 197 LVL Is IT LAND? 200 LVII. THK KING OF THE CANNIBAL ISLANDS . . .206 LVIII. VERY LIKE A WHALE 209 LIX. ABOARD THE BODY OF A WHALK .... 213 LX. A CURIOUS CUISINE . . . . . . 214 LXI. AN ASSEMBLY OF SHARKS 219 LXII. A DANGEROUS EQUILIBRIUM ..... 222 LXIII. A HARPOON WELL HANDLED . . . 226 LXIV. THE THICK WATERS 230 LXV. A WHALE ON FIRB! .... . 234 LXVL THE Bio RAFT .... JF CONTENTS. f LXVII. A CREW OF CANNIBALS 248 LXVIII. THK LOTTERY OF LIFE AND DEATH ... 248 LXIX. A CHALLENGE DECLINED . . . . . .264 LXX. AN UNEXPECTED TERMINATION .... 268 LXXI. LE GHOS UPON TRIAL ....... 261 LXXII. A DUEL TO THE DEATH 284 LXXIII. HATE AGAINST HATE 267 LXXIV. ALIGHT! . 272 LXXV. TOWARDS THE BEACON! .... . 276 LXXVI. A DOUBLE DARKNESS 279 LXXVII. A WHISPERED CONSPIRACY 282 LXXVIII. A FOUL DEED DONE IN A FOG .... 286 LXXIX. DOUSING THE GLIM *. 289 LXXX. SUSPICIONS SOUNDS ....... 292 LXXXI. UNPLEASANT CONJECTURES 296 LXXXII. AN INFORMAL INQUEST 800 LXXXIII. SLIPPING THE CABLE 808 LXXXIV. THE CHASE 806 LXXXV. NEARER AND NEARER 809* LXXXVI. CUT IN TWAIN 818 LXXXVII. AN UNLOOKED-FOR DELIVERANCE .... 815 LXXX VIII. A THREATENED STORM 818 LXXXIX. A STARTLING SHRIEK 823 XC. A MADMAN IN MID-OCEAN 827 XCL THE INSANE SWIMMER 831 XCII. BOARDING THE BOAT 884 XCIII. THE CATAMARAN ABANDONED 837 XCIV. A "SCHOOL" OF SPERM- WHA;JS ... 842 XCV. WORSE OFF THAN EVER 846 XCVI. THE DARKEST HOUR 849 XCVII. A CHEERING CUP ." 86S XCVIII. A PHANTOM SHIP OR A SHIP ON FIRE? . . 868 XCIX. A WHALER " TRYING Our " 868 C. THE EHD OF TFB " YARN " . . . . M3 THE OCEAN WAIFS. CHAPTER I. THE A LB ATROSS. THE u vulture of the sea," borne upon broad wing, and wandering over the wide Atlantic, suddenly suspends his flight to look down upon an object that has attracted his attention. It is a raft, with a disc not much larger than a dining-ta- ble, constructed out of two small spars of a ship, the dol- phin-striker and spritsail yard, with two broad planks and some narrower ones lashed crosswise, and over all two or three pieces of sail-cloth carelessly spread. Slight as is the structure, it is occupied by two individuals, a man and a boy. The latter is lying along the folds 01 the sailcloth, apparently asleep. The man stands erect, with his hand to hia forehead, shading the sun from his eyes, and scanning the surface of the sea with inquiring glances. At his feet, lying among the creases of the canvas, are a handspike, a pair of boat oars, and an axe. Nothing more ia perceptible ot the raft, even to the keen eye of the albatross. The bird continues its flight towards the west Ten milea farther on it once more poises itself on soaring wing, and directs its glance downward. Another raft is seen motionless upon the calm surface of the sea, but differing from the former in almost everything 2 THE OCEAN WAIFS. but the name. It is nearly ten times as large ; constructed out of the masts, yards, hatches, portions of the bulwarks, and other timbers of a ship ; and rendered buoyant by a number of empty water-casks lashed along its edges. A square of canvas spread between two extemporized masts, a couple of casks, an empty biscuit-box, some oars, hand* spikes, and other maritime implements, lie upon the raft ; and around these are more than thirty men, seated, standing, lying, in short, in almost every attitude. Some are motionless, as if asleep ; but there is that in their prostrate postures, and in the wild expression of their features, that betokens rather the sleep of intoxication. Oth- ers, by their gestures and loud, riotous talk, exhibit still surer signs of drunkenness ; and the tin cup, reeking with rum, is constantly passing from hand to hand. A few, apparently sober, but haggard and hungry-like, sit or stand erect upon the raft, casting occasional glances over the wide expanse, with but slight show of hope, fast changing to despair. Well may the sea-vulture linger over this group, and con- template their movements with expectant eye. The instincts of the bird tell him, that erelong he may look forward to a bountiful banquet ! Ten miles farther to the west, though unseen to those upon the raft, the far-piercing gaze of the albatross detects another unusual object upon the surface of the sea. At this distance it appears only a speck not larger than the bird it- self, though in reality it is a small boat, a ship's gig, in which six men are seated. There has been no attempt to hoist a sail ; there is none in the gig. There are oars, but no one is using them. They have been dropped in despair ; and the boat lies becalmed just as the two rafts. Like them, it appears to be adrift jpon the ocean. Could the albatross exert a reasoning faculty it would know that these various objects indicated a wreck. Some vessel has either foundered and gone to the bottom, or has caught fire and perished in the flames- SHIP ON FIRE. 3 Tea miles to the eastward of the lesser raft might be dis- covered truer traces of the lost ship. There might be seen the debris of charred timbers, telling that she has succumbed, not. to the storm, but to fire ; and the fragments, scattered over the circumference of a mile, disclose further that the fire ended abruptly in some terrible explosion. Upon the stern of the gig still afloat may be read the name Pandora. The same word may be seen painted on the water-casks buoying up the big raft ; and on the two planks forming the transverse pieces of the lesser one appears Pan- dora in still larger letters : for these were the boards that exhibited the name of the ship on each side of her bowsprit, and which had been torn off" to construct the little raft by those who now occupy it. Beyond doubt the lost ship was the Pandora. CHAPTER II. SHIP ON FIRE. THE story of the Pandora has been told in all its terri- ble details. A slave-ship, fitted out in England, and mailing from an English port, alas ! not the only one by scores, manned by a crew of ruffians, scarce two of then? owning to the same nationality. Such was the bark Pandora. Her latest and last voyage was to the slave coast, in the Gulf of Guinea. There, having shipped five hundred wretched beings with black skins, " bales " as they are facetiously termed by the trader in human flesh, she had started to carry her cargo to that infamous market, eve* open in those days to such a commodity, the barracoons of Brazil. 4 THE OCEAN WAIFS. In mid-ocean she had caught fire, a fire that could not be extinguished. In the hurry and confusion of launching the boats the pinnace proved to be useless ; and the long- boat, stove in by the falling of a cask, sank to the bottom of the sea. Only the gig was fcund available ; and this, seized upon by the captain, the mate, and four others, was rowed off clandestinely in the darkness. The rest of the crew, over thirty in number, succeeded in constructing a raft ; and but a few seconds after they had pushed off from the sides of the ship, a barrel of gunpowder ignited by the flames, completed the catastrophe. But what became of the cargo * Ah ! that is indeed a tale of horror. Up to the last moment those unfortunate beings had been kept under hatches, under a grating that had been fastened down with battens. They would have been left in that situ- ation to be stifled in their confinement by the suffocating smoke, or burnt alive amid the blazing timbers, but for one merciful heart among those who were leaving the ship. An axe uplifted by the arm of a brave youth a mere boy struck off the confining elects, and gave the sable sufferers access to the open air. Alas ! it was scarce a respite to these wretched creatures, only a choice between two modes of death. They escaped from the red flames but to sink into the dismal depths of the ocean, hundreds meeting with a fate still more horrible : for there were not less than that number, and all became the prey of those hideous sea-monsters, the sharks. Of all that band of involuntary emigrants, in ten minutes after the blowing up of the bark, there was not one above the surface of the sea ! Those of them that could not swim had sunk to the bottom, while a worse fate had befallen those that could, to fill the maws of the ravenous monsters that crowded the sea around them ! At the period when our tale commences, several days had *--- SHIP ON FIRE. ft rocceeded this tragical event ; and the groups we have Je- scribed, aligned upon a parallel of latitude, and separated one from another by a distance of some ten or a dozen miles, will be easily recognized. The little boat lying farthest west was the gig of the Pan- dora, containing her brutal captain, his equally brutal mate, the carpenter, and three others of the crew, that had been admitted as partners in the surreptitious abstraction. Under cover of the darkness they had made their departure ; bu* long before rowing out of gun-shot they had heard the wild denunciations and threats hurled after them by their betrayed associates. The ruffian crew occupied the greater raft ; but who were the two individuals who had intrusted themselves to that frail embarkation, seemingly so slight that a single breath of wind would scatter it into fragments, and send its occu- pants to the bottom of the sea ? Such in reality would have been their fate, had a storm sprung up at that moment ; but fortunately for them the sea was smooth and calm, as it had been ever since the destruction of the ship. But why were they thus separated from the others of the crew : for both man and b'oy had belonged to the forecastle of the Pandora ? The circumstance requires explanation, and it shall be briefly given. The man was Ben Brace, the bravest and best sailor on board the slave bark, and one who would not have shipped in such a craft but for wrongs he had suffered while in the service of his country, and that had inducted him into a sort of reckless disposition, of which, however, he had long since repented. The boy had also been the victim of a similar disposition. Longing to see foreign lands, he had run away to sea ; and by an unlucky accident, through sheer ignorance of her char- acter, had chosen the Pandora in which to make his initia- tory voyage. From the cruel treatment he had been sub- 6 THE OCEAN WAIFS. jectcd io on board the bark, he had reason to see his folly Irksome had been his existence from the moment he set foot on the deck of the Pandora ; and indeed it would have beei scarce endurable but for the friendship of the brave sailor Brace, who, after a time, had taken him under his especial protection. Neither of them had any feelings in common with the crew with whom they had become associated ; and it was their intention to escape from such vile companionship as soon as an opportunity should offer. The destruction of the bark would not have given that opportunity. On the contrary, it rendered it all the more necessary to remain with the others, and share the chancea of safety offered by the great raft. Slight as these might be, they were still better than those that might await them, exposed on such a frail fabric as that they now occupied. It is true, that upon this they had left the burning ves- sel separate from the others ; but immediately after they had rowed up alongside the larger structure, and made fast to it In this companionship they had continued for several days and nights, borne backward and forward by the vary- ing breezes ; resting by day on the calm surface of the ocean ; and sharing the fate of the rest of the castaway crew. What had led to their relinquishing the companionship ? Why was Ben Brace and his protege separated from the others and once more alone upon their little raft ? The cause of that separation must be declared, though one almost shudders to think of it. It was to save the boy from being eaten that Ben Brace had carried him away from his former associates ; and it was only by a cunning stratagem, and at the risk of his own life, that the brave sailor had succeeded in preventing this horrid banquet from being made ! The castaway crew had exhausted the slender stock of SHIP ON FIRE. 7 provisions reaeived from the wreck. They were reduced to that state of hunger which no longer revolts at the filthiest of food ; and without even resorting to the customary method adopted in such terrible crises, they unanimousr) resolved upon the death of the boy, Ben Brace alone raising a voice of dissent ! But this voice was not heeded. It was decided that the lad should die : and all that his protector was able to obtain from the fiendish crew, was the promise of a respite for him till the following morning. Brace had his object in procuring this delay. During the night, the united rafts made way under a fresh breeze ; and while all was wrapped in darkness, he cut the ropes which fastened the lesser one to the greater, allowing the former to fall astern. As it was occupied only by him and his protege, they were thus separated from their dangerous associates ; and when far enough off to run no risk of being heard, they used their oars to increase the distance. All night long did they continue to row against the wind ; and as morning broke upon them, they came to a rest upon the calm sea, unseen by their late comrades, and with ten miles separating the two rafts from each other. It was the fatigue of that long spell of pulling with many a watchful and weary hour preceding it that had caused the boy to sink down upon the folded canvas, and almost on the instant fall asleep ; and it was the appre- hension of being followed that was causing Ben Brace to stand shading his eyes from the sun, and scan with tmeasj glance* the glittering surface of the sea. 8 . THE OCEAN WAIFS. CHAPTER III. THE LORD'S PBAYER AFTER carefully scrutinizing the smooth water towardi every point of the compass, but more especially to- wards the west, the sailor ceased from his reconnoissance, and turned his eyes upon his youthful companion, still soundly slumbering. " Poor lad ! " muttered he to himself ; " he be quite knocked up. No wonder, after such a week as we 've had o't And to think he war so near bein' killed and ate by them crew o' ruffians. I 'm blowed if that was n't enough to scare the strength out o' him ! Well, I dare say he 's escaped from that fate ; but as soon as he has got a little more rest, we must take a fresh spell at the oars. It 'ud never do to drift back to them. If we do, it an't only him they'll want to eat, but me too, after what's happened. Blowed if they would n't." The sailor paused a moment, as if reflecting upon the probabilities of their being pursued. " Sartin ! " he continued, " they could never fetch that catamaran against the wind ; but now that it 's turned dead calm, they might clap on wi' their oars, in the hope of over- takin' us. There 's so many of them to pull, and they 've got oars in plenty, they might overhaul us yet" " O Ben I dear Ben ! save me, save me from the wicked men ! " This came from the lips of the lad, evidently muttered in his sleep. " Dash my buttons, if he an't dreaming ! " said the sailor, turning his eyes upon the boy, and watching tho movements of his lips. " He be talkin' in his sleep. He thinks they 're comin' %t him just as they did last night ou THE LORD'S PRAYER. 9 the raft ! Maybe I ought to rouse him up. If he be a dreamin' that way he '11 be better awake. It 's a pity, too, for he an't had enough sleep." ut I never was taught that ere. Can you pray, little Wil- l'm?" "I can repeat the Lord's Prayer. Would that do, Ben?" " Sartain it would. It be the best kind o' prayer, I 've heerd say. Get on you* knees, lad, and do it. 1 11 kneel I* 10 THE OCEAN WAIFS. myself, and join with ye in the spirit o' the thiug, tho' T 'in shamed to say I disremember most o' the words." The boy, thus solicited, at once raised himself into a kneel ing position, and commenced repeating the sublimo prayer of the Christian. The rough sailor knelt alongside of him, and with hands crossed over his breast in a supplicating attitude, listened attentively, now and then joining in the words of the prayer, whenever some phrase recurred to his remembrance. When it was over, and the " Amen " had been solemnly pronounced by the voices of both, the sailor seemed to have become inspired with a fresh hope ; and, once more grasping an oar, he desired his companion to do the same. " We must get a little farther to east'ard," said he, " so as to make sure o' bein' out o' their way. If we only pull a couple of hours afore the sun gets hot, I think we '11 be in no danger o' meetin' them any more. So let 's set to, little Will'm ! Another spell, and then you can rest as long's you have a mind to." The sailor seated himself close to the edge of the raft, and dropped his oar-blade in the water, using it after the fashion of a oanoe-paddle. " Little Will'm," taking his place on the opposite side, imitated the action ; and the craft commenced moving onward over the calm surface of the sea. The boy, though only sixteen, was skilled in the use of an oar, and could handle it in whatever fashion. He had learnt the art long before he had thought of going to sea ; and it new stood him in good stead. Moreover, he was strong for his age, and therefore his stroke was sufficient to match that of the sailor, given more gently for the purpose. Propelled by the two oar.s, the raft made way with con- siderable rapidity, not as a boat would have done, but still at the rate of two or three knots to the hour. They had not been rowing long, however, when a gentle THE LORD'S PRAYER. 11 sprung up from the west, which aided their progress In the direction in which they wished to go. One would fiave thought that this was just what they should have desired. On the contrary, the sailor appeared uneasy on perceiving that the breeze blew from the west. Had it been from any other point he would have cared little about it. " I don't like it a bit," said he, speaking across the raft to nis companion. " It helps us to get east'ard, that 's true ; imt it '11 help them as well ; and with that broad spread o' eanvas they've rigged up, they might come down on ITS liaster than we can row." " Could we not rig a sail too ? " inquired the boy. "Don't fou think we might, Ben ? " " Just the thing I war thinkin' o', lad ; I dare say we tan. Let me see ; we 've got that old tarpaulin and the lying jib-sail under us. The tarpaulin itself will be big inough. How about ropes ? Ah ! there 's the sheets of the jib still stickin' to the sail ; and then there 's the handspike ind our two oars. The oars '11 do without the handspike. Let 's set 'em up then, and rig the tarpaulin between 'em." As the sailor spoke, he had risen to his feet ; and after par- lially drawing the canvas off from the planks and spare, he won accomplished the task of setting the two oars upright upon the raft. This done, the tarpaulin was spread between them, and wh^n lashed so as to lie taut from one to the other, presented a surface of several square yards to the breeze, quite as much sail as the craft was capable of carrying. It only remained for them to look to the steering of the raft, so as to keep it head on before the wind ; and this could be managed by means of the handspike, used as a rudder or steering oar. Laying hold of this, and placing himself abaft of the spread tarpaulin, Ben had the satisfaction of feeing that the 12 THE OCEAN WAIFS. sail acted admirably ; and as soon as its influence was fairty felt, the raft surged on through the water at a rate of not less than five knots to the hour. It was not likely that the large raft that carried the dreaded crew of would-be cannibals was going any faster ; and therefore, whatever distance they might be off, there would be no great danger of their getting any nearer. This confidence being firmly established, the sailor no longer gave a thought to the peril from which he and his youthful comrade had escaped. For all that, the prospect that lay before them was too terrible to permit their ex- changing a word, either of comfort or congratulation, and for a long time they sat in a sort of desponding silence, which was broken only by the rippling surge of the waters as they swept in pearly froth along the sides of the raft. CHAPTER IV. HUNGER. DESPAIR. THE breezo proved only what sailors call a catspaw, rising no higher than just to cause a ripple on the water, and lasting only about an hour. When it was over, the sea again fell into a dead calm ; its surface assuming the smoothness of a mirror. In the midst of this the raft lay motionless, and the ex- temporized sail was of no use for propelling it. It served a purpose, however, in screening off the rays of the sun, which, though not many degrees above the horizon, was beginning to make itself felt in all its tropical fervor. Ben no longer required his companion to take a hand at the oar. Not but that their danger of being overtaken was HUNGER. DESPAIR. 18 AS gieat as ever ; for although they had made easterly som% five or six knots, it was but natural to conclude that th'j great raft had been doing the same ; and therefore the dis tance between the two would be about as before. But whether it was that his energy had become prostrated by fatigue and the hopelessness of their situation, or whether upon further reflection he felt less fear of their being pursued, certain it is he no longer showed uneasiness about making way over the water ; and after once more rising to his feet and making a fresh examination of the horizon, he stretched himself along the raft in the shade of the tarpaulin. The boy, at his request, had already placed himself in a similar position, and was again buried in slumber. " I 'm glad to see he can sleep," said Brace to himself, as he lay down alongside. " He must be sufferin' from hunger as bad as I am myself, and as long as he 's asleep he won't feel it. May be, if one could keep asleep they 'd hold out longer, though I don't know 'bout that bein' so. I 've often ate a hearty supper, and woke up in the mornin' as hungry as if I 'd gone to my bunk without a bite. Well, it an't no use o' me tryin' to sleep as I feel now, blow'd if it is ! My belly calls out loud enough to keep old Morphis himself from nappin', and there an't a morsel o' anything. More than forty hours ha'e passed since I ate that last quarter biscuit. I can think o' nothing but our shoes, and they be so soaked wi' the sea-water, I suppose they '11 do more harm than good. They '11 be sure to make the thirst a deal worse than it is, though the Lord knows it be bad enough a'ready. Merciful Father ! nothin' to eat ! nothin' to drink ! O God, hear the prayer little Will'm ha' just spoken and I ha' repeated, though I've been too wicked to expect bein' heard, 'gfe ut this day our daily bread'/ Ah ! another day or two without it, an' we shall both be asleep forever ! " The soliloquy of the despairing sailor ended in a groan, that awoke his young comrade from a slumber that was al best only^ transient and troubled. 4 THE OCEAN WAIFS. " What is it, Ben ? " he asked, raising himself on hid elbow, and looking inquiringly in the face of his protector. " Nothing partikler, my lad," answered the sailor, who did uot wish to terrify his companion with the dark thoughts which were troubling himself. u I heard you groaning, did I not ? I was afraid you had seen them coming after us." " No fear o' that, not a bit. They 're a long way off, and in this calm sea they won't be inclined to stir, not as long as the rum-cask holds out, I warrant ; and when that 's empty, they '11 not feel much like movin' anywhere. 'T an't for them we need have any fear now." " Ben ! I 'm so hungry ; I could eat anything." " I know it, my poor lad ; so could I." " True ! indeed you must be even hungrier than I, for you gave me more than my share of the two biscuit. It was wrong of me to take it, for I 'm sure you must be suffering dreadfully." " That's true enough, WilTm ; but a bit o' biscuit would n't a made no difference. It must come to the same thing in the end." " To what, Ben ? " inquired the lad, observing the shadow that had overspread the countenance of his companion, which was gloomier than he had ever seen it. The sailor remained silent. He could not think of a way to evade giving the correct answer to the question ; and keeping his eyes averted, he made no reply. "I know what you mean," continued the interrogator. " Yes, yes, you mean that we must die ! " " No, no, WiU'm, not that ; there 's hope yet, who knows what may turn up ? It may be that the prayer will be answered. I M like, lad, if you 'd go over it again. I think I could iielp you better this time ; for I once knew it myself, long, long ago, when I was about as big as you and hearin' you repeatin' it, it has come most o' it back into my memory Go over it again, little Will'm." FAITH. HOPE. 15 The youth Ghee more knelt upon the raft, and in the shadow of the spread tarpaulin repeated the Lord's Prayer, the sailor, in his rougher voice, pronouncing the words after him. When they had finished, the latter once more rose to hia feet, and for some minutes stood scanning the circle of sea around the raft. The faint hope which that trusting reliance in his Maker had inspired within the breast of the rude mariner exhibited itself for a moment upon his countenance, but only for a moment. ' No object greeted his vision, save the blue, bound- less sea, and the equally boundless sky. A despairing look replaced that transient gleam of hope, and, staggering back behind the tarpaulin, he once more flung his body prostrate upon the raft. Again they lay, side by side, in perfect silence, neither of them asleep, but both in a sort of stupor, produced by their unspoken despair. CHAPTER V. FAITH. HOPE. HOW long they lay in this half-unconscious condition, neither took note. It could not have been many minutes, for the mind under such circumstances does not long surrender itself to a state of tranquillity. They were at length suddenly roused from it, not, how- ever, by any thought from within, but by an object striking on their external senses, or, rather, upon the sense of sight. Both were lying upon their backs, with eyes open and up turned to the sky, upon which there was not a speck of cloud to vary the monotony of it? endless azure. 16 THE OCEAN WAIFS. Its monotony, however, was at that moment varied by a number of objects that passed swiftly across their field of vision, shining and scintillating as if a flight of silver arrows had been shot over the raft. The hues of blue and white were conspicuous in the bright sunbeams, and those gay- colored creatures, that appeared to belong to the air, but which in reality were denizens of the great deep, were at onos recognized by the sailor. ft A shoal o' flyin'-fish," he simply remarked, and without removing from his recumbent position. Then at once, as if some hope had sprung up within him at seeing them continue to fly over the raft, and so near as almost to touch the tarpaulin, he added, starting to his feet as he spoke, " What if I might knock one o' 'em down ! Where 'a the handspike ? " The last interrogatory was mechanical, and put merely to fill up the time ; for as he gave utterance to it he reached towards the implement that lay within reach of his hands, and eagerly grasping raised it aloft. With such a weapon it was probable that he might have succeeded in striking down one of the winged swimmers that, pursued by the bonitos and albacores, were still leaping over the raft. But there was a surer weapon behind him, in the piece of canvas spread between the upright oars ; and just as the sailor had got ready to wield his huge club, a shining object flashed close to his eyes, whilst his ears were greeted by a glad sound, signifying that one of the vaulting fish had struck against the tarpaulin. Of course it had dropped down upon the raft : fcr there it was flopping and bounding about among the folds of the flying-jib, far more taken by surprise than Ben Brace, who had witnessed its mishap, or even little William, upon whose face it had fallen, with all the weight of its watery carcass. N" a bird in the hand be worth two in the bush, by the same FAITH. HOPE. 17 rule a fish in the hand should be worth two in the water, and more than that number flying in the air. Some such calculation as this might have passed through the brain of Ben Brace ; for, instead of continuing to hold his handspike high flourished over his head, in the hope of striking another fish, he suffered the implement to drop down upon the raft ; and stooping down, he reached forward to secure the one that had voluntarily, or, rather, shouldv we say, involuntarily, offered itself as a victim. As it kept leaping about over the raft, there was just the danger that it might reach the edge of that limited area, and once more escape to its natural element. This, however naturally desired by the fish, was the object which the occupants of the raft most desired to prevent ; and to thai end both had got upon their knees, and were scram- bling over the sailcloth with as much eager earnestness as a couple of terriers engaged in a scuffle with a harvest rat. Once or twice little William had succeeded in getting the fish in his fingers ; but the slippery creature, armed aLo with its spinous fin-wings, had managed each time to glide out of his grasp ; and it was still uncertain whether a capture might be made, or whether after all they were only to be tantalized by the touch and sight of a morsel of food that was never to pass over their palates. The thought of such a disappointment stimulated Ben Brace to put forth all his energies, coupled with his greatest activity. He had even resolved upon following the fish into the sea if it should prove necessary, knowing that for the first few moments after regaining its natural element it would be more easy of capture. But just then an oppor- tunity was offered that promised the securing of the prey without the necessity of wetting a stitch of his clothes. The fish had been all the while bounding about upon the spread sail-cloth, near the edge of which it had now arrived. But it was fated to go no farther, at least of its own accord) 18 THE OCEAN WAIFS. for Ben seeing hiu advantage, seized hold of the loose selvag of the sail, and raising it a little from the raft, doubled it over the struggling captive. A stiff squeeze brought its struggles to a termination ; and when the canvas was lifted aloft, it was seen lying underneath, slightly flattened out beyond its natural dimensions, and it is scarcely necessary to say as dead as a herring. Whether right or no, the simple-minded seaman recognized in this seasonable supply of provision the hand of an over- ruling Providence ; and without further question, attributed it to the potency of that prayer twice repeated. M Yes, Will'm, you see it, my lad, 't is the an^wor to that wonderful prayer. Let 's go over it once more, by way o' givin' thanks. He who has sent meat can also gie us drink, even here, in the middle o' the briny ocean. Come, boy ! as the parson used to say in church, let us pray ! " And with this serio-comic admonition meant, however, in all due solemnity the sailor dropped upon his knees, and, as before, echoed the prayer once more pronounced by his youthful companion. CHAPTER VI. FLYING-FISH. THE flying-fish takes rank as one of the most conspicuous u wonders of the sea," and in a tale essentially devoted to the great deep, it is a subject deserving of more than a passing notice. From the earliest periods of ocean travel, men have looked w' h astonishment upon a phenomenon not only singular al ''r.st sight, but which still remains unexplained, namely, a fist FL1 ING-FISH. 9 and a creature believed to be formed only for dwelling m* der water, springing suddenly above the surface, to the height of a two-story house, and passing through the air to the dis- tance of a furlong, before falling back into its own proper element ! It is no wonder that the sight should cause surprise to the most indifferent observer, nor that it should have been long a theme of speculation with the curious, and an interesting subject of investigation to the naturalist. As flying-fish but rarely make their appearance except in warm latitudes, few people who have not voyaged to the tropics have had an opportunity of seeing them in their night. Very naturally, therefore, it will be asked what kind of fish, that is, to what species and what genus the flying-fish be- long. Were there only one kind of these curious creatures the answer would be easier. But not only are there differ- ent species, but also different " genera " of fish endowed with the faculty of flying, and which from the earliest times and in different parts of the world have equally received this characteristic appellation. A word or two about each sort must suffice. First, then, there are two species belonging to the genus Trigla, or the Gurnards, to which M. Lacepede has given the name of Dactylopterus. One species is found in the Mediterranean, and individu- als, from a foot to fifteen inches in length, are often taken by the fishermen, and brought to the markets of Malta, Sicily, and even to the city of Rome. The other species of flying gurnard occur in the Indian Ocean and the seas around China and Japan. The tiue flying-fish, however, that is to say, those that are met with in the great ocean, and most spoken of in books, and in the " yarns " of the sailor, are altogether of a different kind from the gurnards. They are not only different in genus, but in the family and even the order of fishes They 20 THE OCEAN WAIFS. are of the genus Exocetus, and in form and other respect* have a considerable resemblance to the common pike. There are several species of them inhabiting different parts of the tropical seas ; and sometimes individuals, in the sammer, have been seen as fur north as the coast of Cornwall in Eu- rope, and on the banks of Newfoundland in America. Their natural habitat, however, is in the warm latitudes of the ocean ; and only there are they met with in large " schools," and seen with any frequency taking their aerial flight. For a long time there was supposed to be only one, or at most two, species of the Exocetus ; but it is now certain there are several perhaps as many as half a dozen distinct from each other. They are all much alike in their habits, differing only in size, color, and such like circumstances. Naturalists disagree as to the character of their flight. Some assert that it is only a leap, and this is the prevailing opinion. Their reason for regarding it thus is, that while the fish is in the air there cannot be observed any movement of the wings (pectoral fins) ; and, moreover, after reaching the height to which it attains on its first spring, it cannot afterwards rise higher, but gradually sinks lower till it dropa suddenly back into the water. This reasoning is neither clear nor conclusive. A similar power of suspending themselves in the air, without motion of the wings is well known to belong to many birds, as the vulture, the albatross, the petrels, and others. Besides, it is difficult to conceive of a leap twenty feet high and two hun- dred yards long ; for the flight of the Exocetus has been observed to be carried to this extent, and even farther It is probable that the movement partakes both of the nature of leaping and flying : that it is first begun by a spring up out of the water, a power possessed by most other kinds offish, and that the impulse thus obtained is continued by the spread fins acting on the air after the fashion of para* chutes. It is known that the fish can greatly lighten th FLYING-FISH. ' 21 specific gravity of its body by the inflation of its " swim* bladder," which, when perfectly extended, occupies nearly the entire cavity of its abdomen. In addition to this, there is a membrane in the mouth which can be inflated through the gills. These two reservoirs are capable of containing a considerable volume of air ; and as the fish has the power of filling or emptying them at will, they no doubt play an important part in the mechanism of its aerial movement. One thing is certain, that the flying-fish can turn while in the air, that is, diverge slightly from the direction first taken ; and this would seem to argue a capacity something more than that of a mere spring or leap. Besides, the wings make a perceptible noise, a sort of rustling, often dis- tinctly heard ; and they have been seen to open and close while the creature is in the air. A shoal of flying-fish might easily be mistaken for a flock of white birds, though their rapid movements, and the glis- tening sheen of their scales especially when the sun is shining usually disclose their true character. They are at all times a favorite spectacle, and with all observers, the old " salt " who has seen them a thousand times, and the young sailor on his maiden voyage, who beholds them for the first time in his life. Many an hour of ennui occurring to the ship-traveller, as he sits upon the poop, restlessly scan- ning the monotonous surface of the sea, has been brought to a cheerful termination by the appearance of a shoal of flying- fish suddenly sparkling up out of the bosom of the deep. The flying-fish appear to be the most persecuted of all creatures. It is to avoid their enemies under water that they take JM and mount into the air ; but the old proverb, " out of tl e frying-pan into the fire," is but too applicable in their case, for in their endeavors to escape from the jaws of dolphins, albicores, bonitos, and other petty tyrants of the sea, they rush into the beaks of gannets, boobies, albatrosses, and other petty tyrants of the sky. 22 THE OCEAN WAIFS. Much sympathy has been felt or at all events expressed for these pretty and apparently innocent little victims. But, alas ! our sympathy receives a sad shock, when it be- comes known that the flying-fish is himself one of the petty tyrants of the ocean, being, like his near congener, the pike a most ruthless little destroyer and devourer of any fish small pnough to go down his gullet. Besides the two genera of flying-fish above described, there are certain other marine animals which are gifted with a sim- ilar power of sustaining themselves for some seconds in the air. They are often seen in the Pacific and Indian oceans, rising out of the water in shoals, just like the Exoceti: and, like them, endeavoring to escape from the albicores and bo- nitos that incessantly pursue them. These creatures are not fish in the true sense of the word, but " mollusks," of the genus Loligo ; and the name given to them by the whalers of the Pacific is that of Flying Squid." CHAPTER VII. A CHEEKING CLOUD. particular species of flying-fish that had fallen into the clutches of the two starving castaways upon tha raft was the Exocetus evolans, or " Spanish flying-fish " of mariners, a well-known inhabitant of the warmer latitudes >f the Atlantic. Its body was of a steel-blue, olive and gil- very white underneath, with its large pectoral fins (its wings) of a powdered gray color. It was one of the largest of its kind, being rather over twelve inches in length, and nearly a pound in weight. Of course, it afforded but a very slight meal for two hungry A CHEERING CLOUD. 23 Uaiachs, such as were those of Ben Brace and his boy K>mpanion. Still it helped to strengthen them a little ; and it* opportune arrival upon the raft which they could not help regarding as providential had the further effect of rendering them for a time more cheerful, hopefuL It is not necessary to say that they ate the creature with- out cooking it ; and although under ordinary circumstances this might be regarded as a hardship, neither was at that moment in the mood to be squeamish. They thought the dish dainty enough. It was its quantity not the quality that failed to give satisfaction. Indeed the flying-fish is (when cooked, of couree) one of the most delicious of morsels, a good deai resembling the common herring when caught freshly, and dressed in a proper manner. It seemed, however, as if the partial relief from hunger only aggravated the kindred appetite from which the occu- pants of the raft had already begun to suffer. Perhaps the salt-water, mingled with the saline juices of the fish, aided in producing this effect. In any case, it was not long after they had eaten the Exocetus before both felt thirst in its very keenest agony. Extreme thirst, under any circumstances, is painful to endure ; but under no conditions is it so excruciating as in the midst of the ocean. The sight of water which you may not drink, the very proximity of that element, so near that you may touch it, and yet as useless to the assuaging of thirst as if it was the parched dust of the desert, increases rather than alleviates the appetite. It is to no purpose, that you dip your fingers into the briny flood, and endeavor to cool your lips and tongue by taking it into the mouth. To swallow it is still worse. You might as well think to allay thirst by drinking liquid fire. The momentary moistening of the mouth and tongue is succeeded by au almost instanta- neous parching of the salivary gland*, which only glow with redoubled ardor. 24 THE OCEAN WAIFS. Ben Brace knev this well enough ; and once or twice that little William lifted the sea-water on his palm and applied it to his lips, the sailor cautioned him to desist, saying that it would do him more harm than good. In one of his pockets Ben chanced to have a leaden bullet, which he gave the boy, telling him to keep it in his mouth and occasionally to chew it. By this means the secretion of the saliva was promoted ; and although it was but slight, the sufferer obtained a little relief. Ben himself held the axe to his lips, and partly by pressing his tongue against the iron, and partly by gnawing the angle of the blade, endeavored to produce the same effect. It was but a poor means of assuaging that fearful thirst that was now the sole object of their thoughts, it might be said their only sensation, for all other feelings, both of pleasure or pain, had become overpowered by this one. On food they no longer reflected, though still hungry ; but the appetite of hunger, even when keenest, is far less painful than that of thirst. The former weakens the frame, so that the nervous system becomes dulled, and less sensible of the affliction it is enduring ; whereas the latter may exist to its extremest degree, while the body is in full strength and vigor, and therefore more capable of feeling pain. They suffered for several hours, almost all the time in silence. The words of cheer which the sailor had addressed to his youthful comrade were now only heard occasionally, and at long intervals, and when heard were spoken in a tone that proclaimed their utterance to be merely mechanical, and that he who gave tongue to them had but slight hope. Little as lemained, however, he would rise from time to time to his feet, and stand for a while scanning the horizon around him. Then as his scrutiny once more terminated in disap- pointment, he would sink back upon the canvas, and half- kneeling, half-lying, give way for an interval to a half stupor of despair. A CANVAS TANK. 20 From one of these moods he was suddenly aroused by cucumstance which had made no impression on his youthfu companion, though the latter had also observed it. It waa simply the darkening of the sun by a cloud passing over its disc Little William wondered that an incident of so common character should produce so marked an effect as it had done upon his protector : for the latter on perceiving that the sun had become shadowed instantly started to his feet, and stood gazing up towards the sky. A change had come over his countenance. His eyes, instead of the sombre look of despair observable but the moment before, seemed now to sparkle with hope. In fact, the cloud which had darkened the face of the sun appeared to have produced the very opposite effect upon the face of the sailor ! CHAPTER VIII. I A CANVAS TANK. ^TTTHAT 1S ifc > Ben?" asked "William, in a voice T T husky and hoarse, from the parched throat through which it had to pass. " You look pleased like ; do you see anything ? " " I see that, boy," replied the sailor, pointing up into the aky. " What ? I see nothing there except that great cloud that has just passed over the sun. What is there in that?" "Ay, what is there in't? That's just what I'm tiyin' to make out, Will'm ; an' if I 'm not mistaken, boy, them 'i in '< the very thing as we bo l ,h wants." 26 THE OCEAN WAIB'S. "Water!" gasped William, his eyes lighting up with gleam of hope. " A rain-cloud you think, Ben ? " "I'm a'most sure o't, Will'm. I never seed a bank o' cloads like them there was n't some wet in ; and if the wind 11 only drift 'em this way, we may get a shower '11 be the s&?in' o' our lives. O Lord ! in thy mercy look down on us, aid send 'em over us ! " The boy echoed the prayer. " See ! " cried the sailor. " The wind is a fetchin' them this way. Yonder 's more o' the same sort risin' up in the west, an' that 's the direction from which it 's a blowin'. Ho ! As I live, Will'm, there 's rain. I can see by the mist it 's a fallin' on the water yonder. It 's still far away, twenty mile or so, but that 's nothing ; an' if the wind holds good in the same quarter, it must come this way." u But if it did, Ben," said William, doubtingly, " what good would it do us ? We could not drink much of the rain as it falls, and you know we have nothing in which to catch a drop of it." " But we have, boy, we have our clothes and our shirts. If the rain comes, it will fall like it always does in thesfe parts, as if it were spillin' out o' a strainer. We '11 be soakin' wet in five minutes' time ; and then we can wring all out, trousers, shirts, and every rag we 've got." " But we have no vessel, Ben, what could we wring the water into ? " "Into our mouths first: after that ah! it be a pity. I never thought o't We won't be able to save a drop for another time. Any rate, if we could only get one good quenchin', we might stand it several days longer. I fancy we might catch some fish, if we were only sure about the water. Yes, the rain 's a comin' on. Look at yon black clouds ; and see, there 's lightning forkin' among 'em. That 'a a sure sign it's raining. Let's strip, and spread out oui shirts so as to have them, ready." A CANVAS TANK. 1 / > Aa Ben uttered this admonition Le was about proeeedii, < to pull olF his pea-jacket, when an object came before h;i his young companion were now specially directed. For the former they could do nothing more than had been already done. further than to cover the tarpauling that con- tained it with several folds of the spare sail-cloth, in order that no ray of the sun should get near it. This precaution was at once adopted. The flesh of the shark now dead as mutton if left to itself, would soon spoil, and be unfit for food, even for starv- ing men. It was this reflection that caused the sailor and his protege to take counsel together as to what might be done towards preserving it. They were not long in coming to a decision. Shark-flesh, li ke that of any other fish h'ke haddock, for instance, or red herrings can be dried m the sun ; and the more readily in that sun of the torrid zone that shone down so hotly upon their heads. The flesh only needed to be cut into thin slices and suspended from the upright oars. The atmosphere would Boon do the rest. Thus cured, it would keep for weeks or months ; and thus did the castaways determine to cure it. FLENSIN3 A SHARK. 43 No sooiiei was the plan conceived, than they entered upon its execution. Little William again seized the cord of sennit, and drew the huge carcass close up to the raft ; while Ben once more opened the blade of his sailor's knife, and aommenced cutting off the flesh in broad flakes, so thin as to be almost transparent. He had succeeded in stripping off most of the titbits around the tail, and was proceeding up the body of the shark to flense it in a similar fashion, when an ejaculation escaped him, expressing surprise or pleasant curiosity. Little William was but too glad to perceive the pleased expression on the countenance of his companion, of late se rarely seen. * What is it, Ben ? " he inquired, smilingly. " Look 'ee theer, lad," rejoined the sailor, placing his hand upon the back of the boy's head, and pressing it close to the edge of the raft, so that he could see well down into the water, " look theer, and tell me what you see." u Where ? " asked William, still ignorant of the object to which his attention was thus forcibly directed. " Don't you see somethin' queery stickin' to the belly 6 the shark, eh, lad ? " "As I live," rejoined William, now perceiving "some- thin', " " there 's a small fish pushing his head against the shark, not so small either, only in comparison with the great shark himself. It's about a foot long, I should think, But what is it doing in that odd position ? " " Sticking to the shark, did n't I tell 'ee, lad ! " " Sticking to the shark? You don't mean that, Ben v " " But I do mean that very thing, boy. It 's as fast theer as a barnacle to a ship's copper ; an' '11 stay, I hope, till I get my claws upon it, which won't take very long from now. Pass a piece o' < ord this way. Quick . " The boy stretched out his hand, and, getting hold of a piece of loose string, reached it to his companion Just aa 44 THE OCEAN WAIFS. the snare had been made for the shark with the piece of sennit, and with like rapidity, a noose was constructed on the string; and, having been lowered into the water, was passed around the body of the little fish which appeared adhering to the belly of the shark. Not only did it so ap- pear, but it actually was, as was proved by the pull neces- sary to detach it, and which required all the strength ;hat lay in the strong arms of the sailor. He succeeded, however, in effecting his purpose ; and with a pluck the parasite fish was separated from the skin to which it had been clinging, and, jerked upwards, was landed alive and kicking upon the raft. Its kicking was not allowed to continue for long. Lest it might leap back into the water, and, sluggish swimmer as it was, escape out of reach, Ben, with the knife which he still held unclasped in his hand, pinned it to one of the planks, and in an instant terminated its existence. u What sort of a fish is it ? " asked William, as he looked upon the odd creature thus oddly obtained. " Suckin'-fish," was Ben's laconic answer. u A sucking-fish ! I never heard of one before. Why [a it so called ? " " Because it sucks," replied the sailor. Sucks what ? " " Sharks. Did n't you see it suckin' at this 'un afore I pulled it from the teat ? Ha ! ha ! ha ! " " Surely it was n't that, Ben ? " said the lad, mystified by Ben's remark. " Well, boy. I an'f, going to bamboozle ye. All I know ia that it fastens onto sharks, and only this sort, which are called white sharks ; for I never seed it sticking to any o* the others, of which there be several kinds. As to its suckin 1 anythin' out o' them an' livin' by that, I don't believe a word o' it ; though they say it do so, and that 's what 's given it its name. Why I don't believe it is, because I 've seed th.? FLENSING A SHARK. 45 ereature stickin' just the same way to the coppered bottom o a ship, and likewise to the sides o' rocks under the water. Now, it could n't get anything out o' the copper to live upon, DOT yet out o' a rock, could it ? " " Certainly not." " Then it could n't be a suckin' them. Besides, I 've seed the stomachs o' several cut open, and they were full of little water-creepers, such as there 's thousands o' kinds in the sea. I warrant if we rip this 'un up the belly, we '11 find thr same sort o' food in it." u And why does it fasten itself to sharks and ships, can you tell that, Ben ? " " I ve heerd the reason, and it be sensible enough, more so than to say that it sucks. There was a doctor as belonged in the man-o'-war where I sarved for two years, as was larned in all such curious things. He said that the suckin'- fish be a bad swimmer ; and that I know myself (o be true. You can tell by the smallness o' its fins. Well, the doctor, he say, it fastens on to the sharks and ships so as to get carried from place to place, and to the rocks to rest itself. Whenever it takes a notion, it can slip off, and go a huntin' for its prey ; and then come back again and take a fresh grip on whatever it has chosen to lodge itself." " It 's that curious thing along the back of its head that enables it to hold on, is n't it ? " " That's its sticking-machine ; and, what be curious, Will'm, if you were to try to pull it off upwards or backwards you could n't do it wi' all your strength, nor I neither : you must shove it forrard, as you seed me do just now, or else pull it to pieces before it would come off." " I can see," said William, holding the fish up to his ryes, * that there are rows of little teeth in that queer top-knot it's got, all turned towards the tail. It is they, I suppose, thai prevent its slipping backwards ? " c No doubt, lad, no doubt it be that. But never mind 46 THE OCEAX WAIFS. what it be just now. Let us finish flensin' o' the shark ; and then if we feel hungry we can make a meal o' the sucker, for I can tell you it 's the best kind o' eatin'. I Ve ate 'em often in the South Sea Islands, where the natives catch 'em with hooks and lines ; but I 've seen them there much bigger than this 'un, three feet long, and more." And so saying, the sailor returned to the operation, thus temporarily suspended, the flensing of the shark. CHAPTER XIII. THE SUCKING-FISH. fin HE fish that had thus singularly fallen into their hands JL was, as Ben had stated, the sucking-fish, Echeneis re- mora, one of the most curious creatures that inhabit the sea. Not so much from any peculiarity in appearance aa from the singularity of its habits. Its appearance, however, is sufficiently singular ; and looking upon it, one might consider the creature as being well adapted for keeping company with the ferocious tyrant of the deep, on whom it constantly attends. Its body is black and smooth, its head of a hideous form, and its fins short and broadly spread. The mouth is very large, with the lower jaw protruding fai beyohd the upper, and it is this that gives to it the cast o feature, if we may be permitted to speak of " features " in with whom he had formerly associated. No wonder, as he felt the breeze blowing on his jheuk, that he looked towards the setting sun, to ascertain in what direction the raft was being borne. No wonder that hi anxious glance became changed to a look of satisfaction, when he perceived that they were moving eastward. " To the east'ard it are, sure enough," said he, u and tha A SAIL OF SHARK-FLESH. ft! 6e curiouu too. 'T an't often I Ve see'd the wind blow from the west'ard in these latitudes. Only another catspaw in the middle o' the calm. 'T won't last long ; though it won't matter, so long 's it don't turn and blow us t' other way." The expressed wish not to be blown " t' other way " needed no explanation. William understood what that meant. The fearful scene of the preceding day was fresh in his memory. That scene, where half a score of fiend-like monsters, threat- ening his life, were kept at bay by one heroic man, that was a tableau too terrible to be soon forgotten. Nor had he forgotten it, even for a moment. Perhaps, during that brief conflict with the sharks, the nearer danger may have driven it for an interval out of his mind ; but that over, the dread remembrance returned again ; and every now and then, even while engaged in the varied labors that had occupied them throughout the day, in a sort of waking dream he had recalled that fearful vision. Often every few minutes in fact had his eyes been turned invol- untarily towards the west, where, instead of looking hope- fully for a ship, his anxious glance betrayed a fear that any dark object might be seen in that direction. On finishing their task, both were sufficiently fatigued, the strong sailor as well as his feebler companion. The former still kept his feet, anxiously scanning the horizon; while the latter laid himself along the bare boards of the raft. " Little Will'm," said the sailor, looking down at the boy, and speaking in gentle tones, " you 'd better spread the sail under ye, and get some sleep. There be no use in both o' m keeping awake. I'll watch till it gets dark, an' then I'll join you. Go to sleep, lad ! go to sleep ! " William was too wearied to make objection. Drawing the skirt of the sail over the raft, he lay down upon it, and found Jeep almost as soon is he had composed himself ii 8 THE OCEAN WAIFS. moat of them charred by fire, with a sofa, a bamboo chair, and some other articles of furniture, had been rudely bound together by ropes. These things, of themselves, would have made but a very clumsy craft, no better for navigating the great ocean than that upon which Ben and the boy were themselves embarked. But the buoyancy of the former was secured by a contrivance of which the sailor had not had the opportunity of availing himself. Around its edge were ranged hogsheads or water-casks, evidently empty. They were lashed to the plank ; and being bunged up against the influx of the water, kept the whole structure afloat, so that it would have carried a ton or two without sinking below the surface. There was a smaller cask floating alongside, attached to the timbers by a piece of rope that was tightly looped around the swell. But this could not have been designed to increase the buoyancy of the raft : since it was itself almost submerged, evidently by the weight of something it contained. Such a congeries of objects might have drifted side by side by chance, or the caprice of the currents ; but they could not have tied themselves together in such fashion. There was design in the arrangement ; and in the midst of the circle of empty hogsheads might have been seen the contriver of this curious craft. He was, of course, a human being, and a man ; but such an one as, under any circumstances, would arrest the attention of the beholder; much more in the singular .situa- tion in which he was then met with. He was a black man, in the fullest sense of the word ; a true negro, with a skin shining like ebony ; a skull of large size, and slightly square in shape, covered with a thick crop of curling wool, so close and short as to appear felted into the skin. A brace of broad ears stood prominently out from the sides of his head ; and extending aknost from one to the other, was a wide-gaping mouth, formed by a pair of lips of huge thickness, protruding far forward, so as to give to the countenance those facial outlines characteristic of the chimpanzee or gorilla. OTHER WAIFS. 59 Notwithstanding hia somewhat abnormal features, the ex- pression of the negro's face was far from being hideous. It was not even disagreeable. A double row of white teeth, gleaming between the purplish lips, could be exhibited upou ordinary occasions in a pleasant smile ; and the impression derived from looking upon the countenance was, that the owner of it was rather good-natured than otherwise. 'Just then, as he sat upon the raft, gazing over the bulwark of hogsheads, its expression was one of profound and sombre melancholy. No wonder ! The negro was not alone. Another individual shared with him the occupancy of the raft; one differing from him in appearance as Hyperion from the Satyr. A few feet from him, and directly before his face, was a little girl, apparently about ten or twelve years of age. She was seated, or rathei cowering, among the timbers of the raft, upon a piece of tarpauling that had been spread over them, her eyes bent upon her black companion, though occasionally straying, with listless glance, over the sombre surface of the sea. Although so young, her countenance appeared sad and despondent, as if under the belief that there was little hope of escape from the fearful situation in which she was placed, and as if her little spirit had long ago surrendered to despair. Though not a negro like her companion, the girl could scarce be called white. Her complexion was of that hue known as olive ; but her hair, although curling, hung in long locks down over her shoulders ; and the crimson hue deeply tinting her cheeks told that in her blood there was more Cau- casian than negro. Any one who had visited the western coast of Africa, on seeing this little girl, would easily have recognized in her features the type of that mixed race whi< h has resulted from long intercourse between the Portuguese * colonists " and the able indigenes of the soil. THE OCEAN WAIFS. CHAPTER XVII. HOW SNOWBALL ESCAPED FBOM THE SLAVER. ON this curious embarkation, drifting about amid Lie remains of the wrecked ship, there were only the twe human figures, the negro and the little girl. It is super- fluous to say that they were also a portion of the wreck itself, other castaways who had, so far, succeeded in saving themselves from the fearful doom that had overtaken, no doubt, every one of the wretched beings composing the cargo of the slaver. The negro upon the raft, though black as the blackest of his unfortunate countrymen, was not among the number of those who had been carried as freight. On the contrary, he was one of the crew, the lord of the caboose, and known upon the slave-bark by the satirical soubriquet of " Snow- ball." Although originally a slave from Africa, and by race a Ooromantee, Snowball had long been in the enjoyment o' his liberty; and, as cook or steward, had seen service in scores of ships, and circumnavigated the globe in almost every latitude where circumnavigation was possible. Though not naturally of a wicked disposition, he was by no means particular as to the company he kept, or the sort of ship he sailed in, so long as the wages were good and the store-room well supplied ; and as these conditions are usually found on board of a slaver, it was not Snowball's first voyage in a vessel of the kind. It is true that he had never sailed in company with a more ribald crew than that of the Pandora; but it is only justice to say, that, long before the fatal interruption of that voyage, even he had becom tired of their companionship, and had been almost as eager to get away from the ship as Ben Brace or little William. HOW SNOWBALL ESCAPED FROM THE SLAVEB. 61 He, too, had been deterred from attempting to escape while upon the African coast, by the knowledge that such an attempt would have been worse than idle. In all likelihood it would have ended in his being captured by his own coun- trymen, or, at all events, by people of his own color, and sold once more into that very slavery from which he had formerly succeeded in emancipating himself. Though Snowball's morality was far from being immacu- late, there was one virtue which he was not wanting, gratitude. But for the possession of this, he might have been alone upon the raft, and, perhaps, less caring in what direction the winds and waves might carry him. As it was, his sole thought and anxiety was about his little companion, whose safety was as dear to him as his own. It will be asked why Snowball felt this unselfish solicitude. The child could not be his own ? Complexion, features, everything forbade the supposition that there could be any- thing of kinship between her and her sable protector. Nor was there the slightest. On the contrary, the little girl was the daughter of one who had once been Snowball's greatest enemy, the man who had sold him into slavery; but who had afterwards won the negro's gratitude by restor- ing to him his freedom. This person had formerly owned a trading fort on the coast of Africa, but of late years had been a resident of Rio in Brazil. His daughter, born in the former country, previous to his leaving it, was crossing the great ocan to rejoin him in his new home in the western world. Hence her presence on board the Pandora, where ehe had been a passenger under the protection of Snowball. And well had the negro performed his duty as protector. When all the others had forsaken the ship, and the flames were fast spreading over her decks, the faithful negro had gone below, and, rousing the girl from her sleep, for she had been slumbering unconscious of the danger, had borne her amidst flames and smoke, at the imminent risk of his own 62 THE OCEAN WAIFS. life, and passing through the cabin windows with his burdet in his arms, he had dropped down into the sea under the stern of the burning bark. Being an excellent swimmer, he had kept afloat for some minutes, sustaining both himself and his burden by his own strength ; but after a while he succeeded in clutching on to the davit-tackle by which the gig had been let down into the water, and having passed his foot through a loop in the end of it, he remained half suspended, half afloat on the water. Soon after came the explosion, caused by the ignition of the gunpowdar ; and as the vessel was blown to pieces, the sea around became strewed with fragments of shattered timber, cabin furniture, sea-chests, and the like. Laying hold on thoce pieces that were nearest, he succeeded in forming a rude sort of raft, upon which he and his protege were enabled to pass the remainder of the night. When morning dawned, Snowball and the little Lalee such was the name of the child were the only beings who appeared to have survived the catastrophe, the wretched creatures who at the last moment had escaped from the " 'tween-decks " were no longer in existence. Having been brough/ from the interior of the African continent, and from a district where there are no great lakes or rivers, but few of them could swim ; and those few had become the prey of the sharks, that in scores were swim- ming around the frail craft. As the sun rose over the ocean, and lit up the scene of that terrible tragedy, Snowball saw not a living creature save his own protlge, the sharks, and their satellites. The negro knew, however, that the Pandora's own people had escaped. He had witnessed the clandestine departure of the gig, containing the skipper and his confederates. This he had seen, \rhile gazing through the windows of the cabin, previous to launching himself upon that last despe- rate leap. He had also been a witness to the departure of the great raft carrying the crew. HOW SNOWBALL ESCAPED FROM THE SLAVER. 63 It may appear strange that he did not swim towards it, and share the fortunes of his former associates. Why he did not do so is easily explained. By an accident, arising from his own negligence, the ship had been set on fire. He was aware of this ; and he knew also that both captain and crew were equally cognizant of the fact. The former, just after the discovery, assisted by the brutal mate, had adminis- tered to him (Snowball) such a chastisement as he would not soon forget ; while the crew, on becoming acquainted with the circumstance, were upon the point of tossing him into the sea ; and would no doubt have carried their design into execution, but for the presence of the appalling danger impelling them to look to their own safety. The negro knew, therefore, that, were he to seek safety on me great raft, it would only be to throw himself into merciless hands, certain to spurn him back with vengeful indignation, or fling him into the jaws of the hideous monsters already swimming around the ship, and quartering the sea in every direction. For this reason had Snowball chosen to trust to his own strength, to chance, to anything rather than the mercy of his old associates, with whom, for a long period past, he had been far from a favorite. Perhaps it had turned out for the best. Had he succeeded in reaching the great raft, and been permitted to share with its occupants their chances of safety, it is more than probable that the little Lalee might have become the victim of that Horrid Httempt from which the little William had so narrowly 64 THE OCEAN WAIl'S. CHAPTER XVIII. SNOWBALL AMID THE DHIPT. THE adventures of Snowball and his protege, from th blowing up of the Pandora until six suns had risen and gone down over the ocean, if not so varied as those of Ben Brace and his protege, were nevertheless of sufficient interest to deserve a brief narration. Supported by the few sticks which he had been able to draw together, he had remained during the rest of the night in the midst of the floating fragments. He had listened to the wild shouts of vengeful rage, pro- ceeding from the throats of the slaves, as they clutched at the great raft, and were beaten back by those who occupied it. He had seen the broad sail suddenly hoisted, and the dark maarf gradually gliding away over the ocean. He had heard many an agonizing yell as, one by one, the few strong swimmers who survived the rest either sank by exhaustion or were dragged down in the jaws of the numerous sharks ; until, the last shriek having sounded in his ears, all became silent as the tomb, while the sombre surface of the sea onco more lay motionless around him. Even the ravening mon- sters, for a moment, seemed to have forsaken the spot, as if each, having secured a sufficient prey, had gone down to devour it undisturbed in the dark unfathomed caverns of the deep. Wh^n morning dawned upon the scene, all hough many objects met the eye of the negro and his companion, there was to human being within sight ; and Snowball knew that, with the exception of the six men who had rowed off in the gig, and die crew upon the great raft, there were no other survivors of the slaver. The crew having spread a sail to g;et out of reach of SNOWBALL AMID THE DKIFT. 65 the drowning wretches who were clutching at their raft, the latter was soon carried out of sight ; while the six in the gig had rowed off as fast as they were able, in order to get out of reach of their own companions ! For these reasons, when day broke over the ocean, neither boat nor raft were visible from the spot where the catastrophe had occurred. It may appear strange that none of the living cargo of the slaver had succeeded in saving themselves, by clinging tc seme fragment of the wreck ; and Snowball thought so at the time. The truth was, that those who could swim had struck out after the raft, and had followed it so far that they were not able to swim back to the burning vessel ; while the others, in the wild terror produced by the proximity of the flames, had leaped despairingly into the sea, and sunk upon the instant. The early sunbeams, as they fell slantingly over the surface of the sea, told the negro that he was alone, alone with the little Lalee, alone in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, afloat upon a few sticks, without a morsel of food to eat, without a drop of water to drink ! It was a terrible situation, sufficient to produce despair even in the stoutest heart, But Snowball was not one of the despairing sort. He had been too cften in peril of life both by sea and land to be unnerved even in that dread hour; and instead of permitting his spirits to become prostrated, he bethought him of how he might make the best of the circumstances by which he was surrounded. An object that came under his eye, -just as the day began (o break, kindled within him a faint gleam of hope, and urged to making an effort for the salvation of himself and his help- less companion. This object was a smill keg, or beaker, which chanced to be floating near him, and which, from some mark upon it, Snowball recognized. He knew that it had been standing in a corner of the caboose, previous to the 66 THE OCEAN WAIFS. blowing up of the bark; and, moreover, that it contained several gallons of fresh water, which he had himself surrep- titiously abstracted from the common stock, previous to the time that the slaver's crew had agreed to being put upon rations. It was but the work of a minute to secure this keg, and attach it by a strong cord to the piece of timber on which the ex-cook was seated astride. But for this unexpected supply of water Snowball might probably have yielded to despair. Without water to drink he could not have reckoned on a long lease of life, either for himself or his protege. So opportunely had the keg come before his eyes as to seem a Providential interference ; and the belief or fancy that it was so stimulated him to a further search among the fragments of the shattered ship. There were many queer things around him, like himself bobbing about upon the tiny waves. One, however, soon monopolized his attention ; and that was a barrel of some- what flimsy structure, and about the size of those usually employed for carrying flour. Snowball recognized it also as an old acquaintance in the store-room, and knew that it was filled with the best kind of biscuit, a private stock belonging to the captain. Its contents could not fail to be saturated with salt water, for the barrel was not water-tight; but the ex-cook could dry them in the sun, and render them, if not palatable, at least eatable. The biscuit-barrel was soon fished up out of the water, and placed high and dry upon the little raft. Snowball was next struck with the necessity of improving the quality of his craft, by giving it increase .both in size and strength. With this intention after having possessed himself of an oar, out of several that were adrift ne com menced paddling about among the floating fragments, here and there picking up such pieces as appeared befst er'ted tc his purpose. SNOWBALL AMD THE DRIFT. 67 In a short while he succeeded in collecting a sufficient number of spars and other pieces of timber, among which figured a portion of his own old tenement, the caboose, to form a raft as large as he might require ; and to his great satisfaction he saw around him the very things that would render it seaworthy. Bobbing about on the waves, and at uo great distance, were half a dozen empty water-casks. There had been too many of them aboard the slaver : since their emptiness was the original cause of the catastrophe that had ensued. But there were not too many for Snowball's present purpose ; and, after paddling first to one and then another, he secured each in turn, and lashed them to hia raft, in such fashion, that the great hogsheads, sitting higher in the water than the timbers of the raft, formed a sort o* parapet around it. This task accomplished, he proceeded to collect from the wreck such other articles as he fancied might be of service to him ; and, thus occupied, he spent several days on the spot where the Pandora had gone to pieces. The slight breezes that arose from time to time, and again subsided, had not separated his raft from the other objects dtill left floating near. \n whatever direction they went, so went he : since all wer drifting together. The idea had nev^r occurred to the negro to set up a sail and endeavor to get away from the companionship of the inanimate objects around him, souvenirs as they were of a fearful disaster. Or rather it had occurred to him, and was rejected as unworthy of being entertained. Snowball, without knowing much of the theory of navigation, had suf- ficient practical acquaintance with the great Atlantic Ocean, especially that part of it where lies the track of the dreaded " middle passage," long remembered by the transported slave, Snowball, I say, was sufficiently ac- quainted with his present whereabouts, to know that a sail set upon his raft, and carrying him hither and thither, would 68 THE OCEAN WAIFS. not add much to the chances of his being rescued from a watery grave. His only hope lay in being picked up by some passing vessel ; and, feeling convinced of this, he made no effort to go one way or the other, but suffered himself to be drifted about, along with the other waifs of the wreck, whithersoever it pleased the winds or the currents of the ocean to carry him. CHAPTER XIX. SNOWBALL AT SEA ON A HENCOOP. FOR six days had Snowball been leading this sort of life, along with the little Lalee, subsisting partly on the sea-steeped biscuit found in the barrel, and partly upon other provisions which had turned up among the drift; while the precious water contained in the keg had hitherto kept them from suffering the pangs of thirst. During these six days he had never wholly surrendered himself up to despair. It was not the first, by several times, for the old sea-cook to have suffered shipwreck ; nor was it his first time to be cast away in mid-ocean. Once had he been blown overboard in a storm, and led behind, the ship, from the violence of the wind, having been unable to tick round and return to his rescue. Being an excellent swimmer, he had kept afloat, buffeting with the huge billows for nearly an hour. Of course, in the end, he mu^t have gone to the bottom, as the place where the incident oc- curred was hundreds of miles from any land. But just as he was on the point of giving in, a hencoop came drifting past, to which he at once attached himself, and this being fortunately of sufficient size to suptain his weight, hi him from sinking. SNOWBALL AT SEA ON A HENCOOP. 53 Though he knew that the hencoop had been thrown om f the ship by some of his comrades, after he had gone overboard, the ship herself was no longer in sight ; and the unlucky swimmer, notwithstanding the help given him by the hencoop, must eventually have perished among the waves, but the storm having subsided, and the wind sud- denly changing into the opposite quarter, the vessel was wafted back on her old track ; and passing within hail of Snowball, his comrades succeeded in rescuing him from his perilous situation. With the retrospect of such an experience, and Snow- ball could look buck upon many such, he was not the man to yield easily to despair. On the contrary, he now acted as if he believed that there was still not only some hope, but a considerable chance of being delivered from the di- lemma in which the late disaster of the Pandora had placed him. Scarce an hour during the six days had he permitted to pass in idleness. As already stated, he had collected ample materials from the wreck floating around him. Out of these he had formed a good-sized raft, having spent much time and labor in giving it strength and security. This accomplished, and all the provisions he could find safely stored upon it, he had devoted the rest of his time to fishing. There were many fish in the neighborhood of the wreck. Fearful fish they were too : for they were sharks : the same that had made such havoc among the unfortunate creatures who had constituted the cargo of the slaver. These vora- cious monsters, though satiated for a time with their hu- man prey, had not forsaken the spot where the Pandora had gone to pieces; but on the square mile of surface strewed by the floating fragments of the wreck they could still be seen in pairs, and sometimes in larger numbers, with their huge sail-like fins projecting high above the water, 70 THE OCEAN WAIFS. veering about as if once more hungry, and quartering th sea in search of fresh victims. Snowball had not succeeded in capturing any of the sharks, though he had spared no pains in endeavoring to do so. There were other large fish, however, that had made their appearance in the proximity of his raft, attracted thither by the common prospect of food promised by the wreck of the slaver. There were albacores, and bonitos, and dolphins, and many other kinds of ocean fish, rarely seen, or only upon such melancholy occasions. With a long-handled harpoon, which Snowball had succeeded in securing, he was enabled to strike several of these crea- tures ; so that by the evening of the sixth day, his larder was considerably increased, comprising, in the way of fish, an albacore, a brace of bonitos, with three satellites of the sharks, a pilot- and two sucking-fish. All these had been ripped open and disembowelled, after which their flesh, cut into thin slices, and spread out on the tops of the empty water-casks that surrounded the raft, was in process of beirig cured by drying in the sun. Befriended by the fine weather, Snowball had succeeded, one way and another, in accumulating no mean store of pro- visions ; and, so far as food went, he felt confident, both for himself and his companion, of being able to hold out not only for days, but for weeks or even months. He felt equal confidence in regard to their stock of water. Having gauged the keg in his own rude way, and satisfied himself as to the quantity of its contents, he had made a calculation of how long it might last, and found that by a careful econcmy it could be depended upon for a period of several weeks. Reposing upon these pleasant data, on the night of tht> eixth day he had gone to rest with a feeling cf confidence that soon enticed his spirit into the profoundest slumbers. Not that Snowball had gone without sleep during thfl THE FLASH OF LIGHTNING. 71 other iive nights spent upon his raft. He had slept a little on each of them. Only a little, however ; for, as most of them had been moonlight nights, he had kept awake during the greater portion of each, on the lookout over the sur- face of the ocean, lest some ship, sailing near, might glide past silently and unseen, and so deprive him of a chance of being picked up. The little Lalee had also borne part in these nocturnal vigils, taking her turn when Snowball became too weary to keep awake ; and so, in alternate watches, had the two been hi the habit of tiring out the long hours of the night To this practice the sixth night had proved an exception. There was no moon in the sky ; there were no stars ; not a glimmer of light, either in the firmament of the heavens or on the face of the deep. The sky above and the sea below were both of one color, the hue of pitch. On such a night it was idle to keep watch. A ship might have passed within a cable's length of the raft, and still remained un- seen ; and, filled with this conviction, both Snowball and hia companion, after the night had fairly closed over them, stretched their bodies along the pieces of sail-c^oth that formed their respective couches, and surrendered their spirits to the sweet enchantment of sleep. CHAPTER XX. THE FLASH OF LIGHTNING. SNOWBALL began to snore almost as soon as he had closed his eyelids, and as if the shutting of his eyes had either occasioned or strengthened the current of breath through hia nostrils. 72 THE OCEAN WAIFS. And such a sound as the snore of the Coromantee wai rarely heard upon the ocean, except in the "spouting" of a whale or the "blowing" of a porpoise. It did not wake the little Lalee. She had become accus- tomed to the snoring of Snowball, which, instead of being a disturber, acted rather as a lullaby to her rest. It was only after both had been asleep for many hours after midnight, in fact when Lalee was herself sleeping less soundly, and when a snore, more prolonged and pro- digious than any that had preceded it, came swelling through the nostrils of the sea-cook, it was only then that the young girl was awakened. Becoming aware of what had awakened her, she would have gone to sleep again; but just as she was about re- composing herself upon her sailcloth couch, a sight came before her eyes that caused her not only to remain awake, but filled her with a feeling of indescribable awe. On the instant of opening her eyes, the sky, hitherto dark, had become suddenly illumined by lightning, not in streaks or flashes, but as if a sheet of fire had been spread for an instant over the whole canopy of the heavens. At the same time the surface of the sea had been equally lighted up with the vivid gleam ; and among the many ob- jects drifting around the raft, the remnants of the wreck, with which the eyes of the little Lalee had now become familiarized, she saw, or fancied she saw, one altogether new to her. It was a human face and figure, in the likeness of a beau- tiful boy, who appeared to be kneeling on the water, or on some slight structure on a level with the surface of the sea! The lightning had revealed other objects beside him and over him. A pair of slender sticks, standing some feet apart, and in a perpendicular position, with some whita strips suspended between thorn, in the gleam of the light ning shone clear and conspicuous. THE FLASH OF LIGHTNING 73 It is not to be wondered at thai the little Lake should feel surprise at an apparition, so unexpected, in such a place, and under such circumstances. It is not to be won- dered at that her first impulse should be to rouse her companion out of his snoring slumbers. She did so upon the instant, and without waiting for an- other flash of lightning either to confirm her belief in what she had seen, or convince her that it was only an apparition, which her fancy, disturbed by the dreams in which she had been indulging, had conjured up on the instant of her awaking. " Wha's dat you say ? " inquired Snowball, abruptly awak- ened in the middle of a superb snore ; " see something ! you say dat, ma pickaninny ? How you see anyting such night as dis be ? Law, ma lilly Lally, you no see de nose ; fore you own face. De 'ky 'bove am dark as de complex- yun ob dis ole nigga; you muss be mistake, lilly gal! dat you muss ! " " No, indeed, Snowball ! " replied Lalee, speaking in gumbo Portuguese, " I am not mistaken. It was n't dark w hen I saw it. There was lightning ; and it was as clear as in daylight for a little while. I 'm sure I saw some one ! " "What was de some one like?" interrogated Snowball, in an accent that proclaimed incredulity. " Was 'um a man or a woman ? " " Neither." " Neider ! Den it muss ha' been, ha ! maybe it war a mermaid ! " "What I saw looked like a boy, Snowball. O, now I think of it, like that boy." " What boy you 'peak 'bout ? " * He who was aboard the ship, the English boy who was one of the sailors." u Ah I you mean de little Will'm, I 'pose. I reok'n dat 4 74 THE OCEAN WAIFS. 'ere lad hab gone to de bott'm ob de sea long afore dis, as about equal to the body of a man ; but much more elongated, and lessening gradually towards the tail. It seemed to possess a double quantity of fins, lunat- ed along their outer margins, and set thickly over its body, BO as to give it a bristling aspect. Unlike other fishes, ita neck was more slender than its head and shoulders, im- parting to it a sort of human shape. But it was in its head that the hideousness of the creature was more especially conspicuous ; the skull being prolonged on each side out- wards to the distance of several inches, and set upon its neck after the fashion of a mallet upon its shaft ! At the end of these lateral protuberances appeared the eyes, with gleaming golden irides, glancing horridly to the right and left. The mouth was not less abnormal in shape and position. Instead of being in the hideous head already described, it was in the breast, where at intervals it could be seen yawning wide open, and displaying a quadruple row of sharp serrated teeth, that threatened instant destruction to any sub- stance, however hard, that might chance to come between them. Little William knew not what sort of fish it was ; for though common enough in some parts of the ocean, he had not had the good or ill fortune to see one before. As hia companion had put the question, however, and also to satisfy his own curiosity, he appealed to Ben. The latter, raising his eyes above the top of his chest, and looking in the direction pointed out by the lad, at once recog- nized the animal which appeared to have attached itself as an escort to the Catamaran. " Hammer-head ! " said Ben ; " a shark he be ; an' the ugliest o' his ugly tribe." Saying this, the sailor once more ducked his head under the lid of the chest, and continued his exploration, alto- gether heedless of the " hammer-head," from whose pi-oxiraitt they had nothing to fear. So believed Ben Brace at the moment- 5 98 THE OCEAN WAIFS. It proved a feeling of false security. In less than te minutes from that time the sailor was within six feet of the " hammer-head's " open mouth, in imminent danger of being craunched between those quadruple tiers of terrible teeth, and taken into the monster's capacious maw. By the phrase *' hammer-head," so laconically pronounced by the captain of the Catamaran, little William recognized n the fish a creature which, although never seen by him before, he had read of in books, both of travel and natural history. It was the " hammer-head " shark, or balance-fish, so called from the peculiar formation of its head, the zygcena of the naturalists, and one of the most voracious of that devouring tribe to which generically it belongs. The individual in question was, as is already stated, about a cable's length from the raft, right ahead ; and through the translucent water its form could be distinctly traced in all its hideous outlines. Swimming in the same direction, and at a like rate of speed, it preserved a regular distance from the raft ; and appeared like some guide or avant courier con- ducting the Catamaran across the Atlantic ! William and Lalee watched the fish for a considerable time ; but as no change took place either in its movements or the position it held in relation to the raft, their curiosity at length became satisfied, and their eyes were turned in a different direction. But the gaze of the boy-sailor soon became fixed; and upon an object which caused him to give utterance to two distinct exclamations, distinct in point of time, as different ?n signification. The first was an ejaculation, or rather a aeries of phrases expressing a jocular surprise, the second a cry of serious alarm. " Ho ! " cried he, on turning round and glancing towards the stern of the Catamaran, " Snowball asleep ! Ha ! ha 1 ha ! See the old sea-cook ! Verily, the, steering oar has escaped from his hand!" - OVERBOARD ! " 99 Almost instantly succeeded the shout that betokened alarm, followed by a series of hurried phrases, indicating the danger itself. " The boom, the boom ! 'T is coming round ! Look out, Lalee ! look out ! " As he gave utterance to these words of warning, the boy sprang towards his companion, with arms outstretched, to protect her. The action came too late. The steering oar, held in the hands of the sleeper, hung suspended high above the water. The Catamaran, left without control, luffed suddenly round beam-end to the wind ; the boom obeyed the impulse of the breeze ; and Lilly Lalee, uplifted upon its end, was brushed off from the craft, and jerked far out upon the blue bosom of the ocean ! CHAPTER XXVIII. " OVERBOARD ! " THE cry came from little William, as the Portuguese girl, lifted on the eud of the boom, was pitched far out into the sea. The utterance was merely mechanical ; and as it escaped from his lips, the sailor-lad rushed towards the edge of the raft, and placed himself in an attitude to plunge into the water, with the design of swimming to the rescue of Lalee. Just then the boom, suddenly recoiling, came back with a rapid sweep ; and, striking him across the shins, sent him sprawling over the shoulders of Ben Brace, and right into the sea-chest, in front of which the sailor was still kneeling. Ben had h^ard that significant crv of alarm, and almost 100 TEE OCEAN WAIFS. simultaneously the "plash" made by the little Por'ugues* as her body dropped down upon the water. Ho had slewed himself ro ond, and was making a hurried effort to get to bis feet, when the boy, flung with violence upon his stooping back, once more brought him to his knees. As William was chucked right over him into the chest tho sailor uoon recovered from the shock, and rising erect, ciii*d out iu a half-confused manner, " Overboard ! Who ? W.uere ? Not you, Will'm ! What is 't, boy ? " ' G jrteu I Ben ! " answered William, as he lay kicking among the contents of the kit, " Lilly Lalee, she 's knocked overbo.ra by the boom ! Save her ! save her ! " The sa.ioi needed neither the information nor the appeal thus avldieise-i to him. His interrogations had been alto- gether meoli* lical, for the plunge he had heard, and the absence of tL giil from the raft, ascertained by a single glance, told trim which of the Catamaran's crew it was who had fallen overboard. The circling edJies in the water showed him the spot where the girl \ ad gone down ; but, just as he got to his feet again, she had ."eturned to the surface ; and, uttering half- stifled screams, i ommenctd buffeting the water with her tiny hands, in an instinctive endeavor to keep herself afloat In a crisis of this character, the brave English sailor was obstructed by rw) ambiguity as to how he should act A single bound earned him across the Catamaran, another landed him upon the top of one of the casks, and a third launched him six feet outward into the sea. Had he been apprised of the accident only a score of seconds sooner, less than that number of strokes would have sufficed him to reach the spot where the child had first fallen into the water. Unfortunately in the collision with little William, that had brought him back to his knees, some time had been expended. During this interval short as it was the waft, though under an uncontrolled sail, was still making "OVERBOARD!" 101 considerable way ; and when the rescuer at length vaccecded in leaping from the cask, the struggling form had fallen irto the wake of the Catamaran to the distance of nearly a cable's length. If the girl could only keep afloat for a few minutes, there need be no great danger. The sailor knew that he could swim, sustaining a heavier weight than was the little Lalee. But it was evident the child could not swim a stroke, and was every moment in danger of sinking for the second time. Her rescuer perceived this danger as he started to her aid ; and therefore pressed rapidly towards her, cleaving the water with all the strength that lay in his muscular arm* and limbs. Meanwhile little William had also regained his feet ; and, having extricated himself from the chest in which he had been temporarily encoffined, ran towards the after part of the raft. Quickly mounting upon the water-cask at the stern, he stood astride the steering oar, an anxious and trembling spectator, his eyes alternately fixed on the strong swimmer and the struggling child. Snowball -was still dormant, buried in a slumber profound and uncgnscious, such as only a " darkey " can enjoy The cry " Overboard ! " uttered by little William had made no impression upon the tympanum of his wide-spread ears, nor the exclamations that succeeded in the harsher voice "of the sailor. Equally unheard by him had been the scream coming across the water, though along with it he might have heard the utterance of his own name ! As none of these sounds had been suffic.'ent to arouse him from his torpor, he was likely to remain for some time longer unconscious of what was occurring. The sailor swam in silence, the cries of the child, now more distant, were growing feebler and feebler ; while little William Snow- ball's only companion upon the raft was too much ab- 102 THE OCEAN WAIFS. lorbed in the scene and its issue to allow even a breath tt escape him. In this moment of agony, intense to all the others of the Catamaran's crew, Snowball was sleeping as soundly and sweetly as if he had been stretched along the bench of hia cabocse, and rocked to rest by the undulations of a good ship going at easy sail. Up to this time, William had not thought of awakening him ; for, to say the truth, the boy had not yet quite re- covered his presence of mind. The shock of consternation caused by the accident was still vibrating through his brain ; and his actions, in running aft, and springing up on the cask, were half mechanical. There, enchained by the spectacle, and waiting with intense anxiety for its denouement, he had not a thought to give either to Snowball or his slumberings. The silence continued only for a short period of time, though it may have seemed long enough both to actors and spectator in that thrilling drama. It was terminated by a cry of joyous import from the lips of little William, in short, a loud hurrah, evoked by his seeing the swimmer come en rapport with the child, raise her sinking form above the surface, and holding it in one hand, strike out with the Other in the direction of the raft. CHAPTER XXIX. SAVED I T)RAVE Ben! brave fellow! he las sa^ed her! Jj Hurrah!" Whether it was the violent gestures that accompanied this sbullition of feeling that caused the water-cask to lurch SAVED i 103 from onder his feet, or whether it arose from his nervous system suddenly bscoming relaxed after such a spell of intense anxiety, certain it is that the sailor-lad, as he repeated the final " Hurrah ! " lost his balance upon the i*,ask, and, staggering over, he fell with all his weight upon the prostrate body of the slumbering sea-cook. The latter, in his sleep more sensible to touch than hear- ing, was at length aroused. " Gorramity ! " cried he, suddenly starting to his knees, and endeavoring to disembarrass himself of the weight of little William, still scrambling upon his back. "Gorramity! What all dis fraca 'bout ? Someb'dy shout ' Hurrah ? ' Ha ! you, lilly Willy ? you shout dat jess now ? I tink I hear ye in ma 'leep. What for you hurrah ? Golly ! am dar a ship in sight ? I hope dar am Wha's Mass' Brace ? wha's de lilly gal ? Augh ? " This string of interrogations was put in such rapid succes- sion as to give the lad no opportunity of replying to them. But, indeed, a reply was not needed, as may be deduced from the final ejaculation of the questioner. Snowball, having swept the surface of the Catamaran with a quick, searching glance, and missing from it not only its captain, but what was of greater moment his own protege, became equally the victim of surprise and conster- nation. His eye was at once turned towards the water ; and, like all men accustomed to the sea, was intuitively directed stem- ward. The missing individuals could not be elsewhere than in the wake of the craft going under sail. He was soon satisfied of the correctness of his conjecture. On the instant of his turning he beheld Ben Brace, or rather, only the head of that individual, just visible above the rippling surface of the sea. Close by was another head of smaller size, with dark ringlets floating on both sides of it, and a tiny arm stretched out and apparently clinging to the shoulder of the seaman. 104 THE OCEAN WAIFS. Snowball needed no one not even little William -ta interpret what he saw. At a glance he comprehended whal had occurred during his sleep, all except the cause. Lit- tle did he suspect that the disaster had its origin in his own negligence. But it did not need that thought to beget within him a feeling of anxiety, or, rather, of intense alarm. This feeling did not arise on the instant. Seeing the girl sustained by such a strong swimmer as he knew his old shipmate to be, he had but little fear for the result, so little that he checked his first impulse, which was to leap overboard and swim to the assistance of both. A moment's reflection, however, satisfied him that there was still danger both for Lalee and her brave rescuer, a danger which little William while giving utterance to that joyful " Hurrah ! " had not taken into account. The lad had seen the girl picked up by the strong seaman; and, having an unlimited faith in the prowess of his own protec- tor, he had no other thought than that the latter would soon swim back to the Catamaran, bearing his light burden along with him. In his joy little William had overlooked the circumstance that the Catamaran was under sail, and moving through the water at a rate of speed that the swiftest swimmer, un- embarrassed with the slightest weight, might in vain attempt to overtake her ! This sinister circumstance, in the excitement of the hour overlooked by the youthful sailor, was even, for a moment, unthought of by the more experienced mariner, for Snow- ball, in addition to being a sea-cook, was also a competent seaman. Not for long, however, did the latter continue unconscious of the danger. Almost on the instant did he perceive it ; and quickly squatting himself in front of the cask, he took hold of the steering-oar, which he had so culpably neglected, and, although still ignorant of the fact that his own negligence had caused the disaster, he bent all his energies towards remedying it THE ZYGJ1NA. 105 Under iLe strong arm of the Ooromantee, the Catamaran Was fast coming round towards the wind, and so shorten ing the distance between the swimmer and the craft, when an object came under the eye of her steersman that caused him to drop the oar as if either his arm had become sud- denly paralyzed, or the piece of rounded ash grasped be- tween his hands had become transformed into a bar of red- hot iron ! The former it could not be ; since paralyzed arms could not act, as did those of Snowball on that instant. On drop- ping the oar, his right hand was suddenly carried towards his left thigh, where a long knife hung suspended m ita sheath. Upon the hilt of this his fingers rested for a mo- ment, evidently not with the intention of drawing it, but apparently to assure himself that the knife was in its place. In an instant the hand was withdrawn ; but during the action the negro had hastily risen to his feet ; and, having already abandoned the oar, he rushed towards the edge of the raft and leaped overboard into the water ! CHAPTER XXX. THE ZTQ^NA. THE conduct of the Coromantee in thus relinquishing the rudder and springing overboard into the sea was inexplicable, at least, to little William it seemed so for the time. What could be Snowball's object in taking to the water? The sailor's strength was sufficient to sustain both himself and the little girl. He appeared to have no diffi- culty in holding her above the surface ; and as to getting 6 106 THE OCEAN WAIFS. back to the raft, Snowball was surely doing more seiviee in steering the raft towards them ? Had he continued at tli Bidder a few minutes longer, the Catamaran must have come very near where the swimmer was struggling ; where* as, on his dropping the oar, she once more luffed round, and began to make way in the opposite direction. Little William, however, did not observe this sinister cir- cumstance ; or if he did, it was for the moment driven out of his mind by one still more sinister, that just then came under his observation. Only for a few seconds had he remained watching the ne- gro, and wondering, with unpleasant thoughts, why the latter before leaping overboard had half drawn the knife from hia belt and then resheathed it. Something like a suspicion passed through the mind of the youth. What could the ne- gro want with a knife, if his object was to give help to the swimmer? Could a fiendish conception have occurred to the Coromantee, to lessen the number of those who might require food and water? It is true the suspicion had barely shaped itself in the brain of the boy. Still, it had shaped itself, to be succeeded by a feeling of remorse for the wrong which he had done to Snowball in entertaining it. Almost on the instant did he become conscious of this wrong, by an object coming under his eyes and which at once accounted for the conduct of the Coromantee, that had seemed strange. Snowball was swimming towards Bea Brace, not to destroy, but with the intention of saving him. From what ? Was the sailor really in danger of sinking, BO as to stand in need of support both for himself and his burden ? Little William did not put such an interrogatory. AH his conjectures were ended. The peril threatening hia patron, and little Lalee as well, was plainly outlined THE ZYGJ1NA. 107 before his eyes, in all its frightful reality. That fluttish, dark disc, with lunetted edge, rising erect above the surface, and cutting keenly through the rippling water, was an object not to be mistaken for any moving thing met with amid the ocean, save the dorsal fin of a shark , and William knew at a glance that such in reality it was. He saw, moreover, it was the same he itid little Lalee had so late been contemplating in security, the dreaded zygaena : for through the translucent water he could dis- tinguish its hammer-shaped head, and lurid eyes gleaming out from their protuberant sockets, hideous to behold ! The boy now became spectator, sole spectator, of a scene of thrilling, even terrible interest. The characters in the drama were Snowball, the zygaena, and Ben Brace with his burden. Just as William had arrived at the comprehension of the Coromantee's behavior, the dramatis personce were placed relatively to each other in a triangular position, an isosce- les triangle, in which Snowball and the shark represented the angles at the base, while Ben with his charge occupied the apex. The latter point was almost stationary, while both the former were moving towards it in converging lines, fast as shark and man could swim. The situation was easily explained. The zygajna, hith- erto holding its course ahead of the Catamaran, had become apprised of the catastrophe occurring among the crew. The plash occasioned by little Lalee as she was flung upon the water, and the heavier concussion of Ben's body as he plunged overboard, had reached the monster's ears; and, with that fell instinct peculiar to its tribe, it had suddenly turned in the water, and commenced swimming toward* the tfake of the craft; where it knew that anything, whether human or otherwise, falling overboard, must inevitably drift. While passing the Catamaran towards the wake, Snow- ball had caught sight of its fan-like fin, which apprised 108 THE OCEAN WAIFS. him of the direction it was taking, at the same time reveal ing to him its design. The plunge which Snowball had made as he sprang out into tLs water had caused the zygaena to swerve from its course ; and for some moments it swam towards him, as if determined upon changing the object of its attack; but whether not liking the looks of the Coromantee or frayed by his bold attitude in making directly towards it, it shied back into its former course, and kept on towards the others. Of course, the sailor, encumbered as he was by the half- lifeless form of the girl, would stand but little chance of making a successful defence against a shark, more espe- cially such a monster as the zygaena; and it was the knowl- edge of this that had summoned Snowball to the rescue. Against such an adversary a more capable combatant than the Coromantee could scarce have been found on the waters of the ocean, or even in them. He could swim like a swan, and dive like a sea-duck ; nor was it the first time for him to have fought the shark in its own element ; neither would it be the first time should he prove conqueror in the combat. On launching into the lists, his chief dread had not been for himself, but for those he was proceeding to rescue. In point of time the shark had had the start of him ; and, although on parting from the raft the distances each would have to traverse were not very unequal, Snowball kne\i that his scaly competitor far excelled him in the quality of speed. It was this thought that was causing him anxiety, amounting almost to anguish, that caused him to plung* wildly through the water, to utter loud cries, and make other noisy demonstrations, with a view of distracting the attention of the zygaena from the victims it had forechosen, and drawing its attack upon himself. Ilis shouts and gesticulations proved equally unavailable THE ZYG^NA. 109 The cunning zygaena took no heed of either ; but with itf dark tlorsal fin, set like a well-bent sail, it kept straight on towards the easier victims. The sides of the isosceles triangle were gradually growing unequal, gradually and slowly, but, alas ! surely. Already was it an irregular scalene. Snowball perceived the change, each moment becoming more perceptible, each moment augmenting his fears. r " Poor lilly Lally ! " cried he, in a voice that betrayed hii inxiety. " O Mass' Ben ! fo' de lub o' Gorramity, swum to de right, round dat away, an' let me git 'tween you an de ravenin' beast To de right ! da '3 de way. Do yer bess, Mass' Brace, an' gi' me time get up. I take care o' de lubber ef I once get im din reach o' dis chile's arm." The injunction thus uttered had the desired effect. Up to that time the sailor, sunk low in the water by reason of the extra weight, had not become fully cognizant of the peril of his position. Hitherto his mind had been more occupied with the idea of overtaking the raft, than any danger to be dreaded from sharks. He was not even aware of the zygae- na's approach ; for the fin, which had betrayed the monster's presence to those on the Catamaran, from being seen en profile, could not so easily be distinguished wlren viewed in "front-face." No wonder, therefore, that the victims which the zygsena had selected for its attack remained un- conscious of its approach ; and it was only on seeing Snow- ball spring out from the Catamaran, and swim towards him, that the sailor suspected the proximity of a shark. A.1 the same instant, also, he remembered the interrogatory that had been addressed to him by little William, and his own laconic reply designating the individual as a hammer-head. From these various circumstances he could tell that there was a shark bearing down upon him ; but in what direction he could not conjecture, until the hurried words of Snowball admonished him to " make way to de right," 110 THE OCEAN WAIFS. The sailor had too much respect for the experience of the ex-cook to disregard the injunctions thus given ; and ot hearing them, he at once swerved in the direction indicated, and " made way to de right " as fast as a man could swim with only one hand free for the stroke. Fortunately for all parties, the one arm proved sufficient The new direction entered upon by the swimmer soon changed the relative position of all parties. The triangle became resolved into a right line, the shark at one ex- tremity, the sailor with his charge at the other, Snow- ball midway between! CHAPTER XXXI. FACE TO FACE. BY this change in the position of the parties, the zy- gzena had lost its advantage. Instead of having for the object of its attack an exhausted swimmer encumbered with a weight, without a weapon, or even an arm free to wield one, it would now have for its antagonist a strong man, fresh and vigorous, armed with a long-bladed knife ; one, moreover, who from earliest youth had lived a half-amphibious life, and who was almost as much at home in the water as the shark itself. At all events, the Coro- mantee could calculate on keeping himself above water for several hours without rest, and under it as long as any other animal whose natural element was the earth or the air. Snowball, however, had no intention to go tinder, not an inch deeper than he could possibly help : for therein would lie his danger, and he knew it. As we have already said, it was not the, first time for him to encounter a shark FACE TO FACE. Ill in its own element; and though, perhaps, not so familial with the hammer-hexd as with the white shark, he was nol altogether unacquainted with the habits and peculiarities of the former species. He knew that the zygaena, like others of its congeners, in seizing an object, requires to have that object under it ; oth- erwise, it is compelled to turn upon its back or side, just in proportion as the prey it would seize lies high or low in the water. If altogether on the surface, the shark is forced to make a complete roll, belly upward ; and this necessity, arising from the peculiar position of the animal's mouth, and the conformation of its jaws, is well known among mariners, and better among true shark-fighters, who use it to their advantage. Among the pearl-divers of the Vermilion Sea (Gulf of California), the attack of the common shark is but little dreaded. The only weapon used by them is a piece of stick (the estacd), sharpened at both ends, and hardened by fire. Provided with this simple weapon, which they carry, stuck through a loop in their leathern belt, they dive with- out fear among the sharks that frequent the waters of the pearl-oyster fishery. "When attacked by one of these vora- cious creatures, they wait for the moment when the shark makes its semi-somersault, and opens its cavernous mouth. Then, with an adroitness drawn from practice, and a fear- lessness which only great confidence can give, they thrust the estaca, gag-fashion, between the creature's jaws, leaving it no alternative but to retreat with its jaws wide open, or to close them to its own certain destruction. Among these pearl-fisheries, however, a species of shark occasionally shows itself that cannot be destroyed in such a simple fash- ion. It is known as the tintorera, and is as much dreaded by the pearl-divers as the common shark is by the ordinary mariner. Fierce as is the zyg?ena and dr jaded above all others rf 112 THE OCEAN WAIFS. its tribe, half the dread no doubt is attributable to iti hideous configuration. Snowball knew that before it could injure him, it must make the half-turn, and, therefore, ap- proached it with the determination to keep well upon the surface of the water, and not let it get above him. The conflict was now inevitable : for the shark, although apparently a little put about by the transposition that had taken place, had determined upon having a meal of human flesh. Its white victims had escaped it for the time, but it was not particular as to the color of the skin, and Snowball might be as sweet to its palate as Ben Brace or Lilly Lalee. We are not going to assert that it reasoned after this fashion, or that any thoughts whatever passed through its huge mallet-shaped skull. Indeed, there was not much time for reflection : for as Snowball interposed his body between the zygaena and its intended victims, the woolly head of the Coromantee and the hammer-head of the shai'k were scarcely three lengths of a handspike from each other. It was a fearful situation for a human being to be in ; and any other than an old shark-fighter would, at such a moment, have succumbed from sheer terror. Not so Snowball, who appeared to enter the lists with as little dread and as much confidence as if hisfetisch had given him full assurance of victory. Little William, standing upon the stern of the Catamaran with suspended breath, noting every turn of the spectacle, could see Snowball drawing the knife from his belt. Not for long, however, did he hold it clutched in his hand. For greater convenience, and to give his hands free play, while evading the attacks of his finny antagonist, he transferred the knife to his mouth, where it was seen set transversely across his cheeks, the blade tightly held between his teeth. In this strange fashion did Snowball meet his er,emy, th truculent tyrant of the deep. A RING PERFORMANCE. 118 CHAPTER XXXII A RING PERFORMANCE. IT might be supposed that the shark would have rushed instantaneously upon its antagonist, regardless of aught lave making a meal of him. But no, the zygaena, notwith- standing its great voracity, like the rest of its tribe, is endowed with certain instincts of caution. The sea-tiger, as well as that of the land, can tell instinctively whether the object of its attack is likely to become an easy prey, or turn out a dangerous adversary. Some such shall we call it an idea ? seemed to enter the unshapely skull of the hammer-head, suggested no doubt by the bold attitude which Snowball had assumed. In all likelihood, had the negro been making away, instead of swimming towards it, and showing signs of a desire to escape, its onset would have been made on the instant. As it was, the shark saw itself vis-a-vis to an adversary nearly as large as itself and quite as courageous ; and it w possible also that its pilot-fish, a brace of which had ad- vanced close to Snowball's snout, and after submitting his dusky carcass to a brief examination returned to their mas- ter, it is just possible that these emissaries had reported to their patron, that the game he was in pursuit of must be approached with caution. At all events something had been communicated that pro- duced a sudden change in the tactics of the zygaena. In- stead of rushing recklessly on to the attack, or even keep- ing up the swimming pace by which it had hijherto been making its approach, on arriving within some half-score fathoms of Snowball's face, it gradually slackened speed, until its brown, fan-like fins, gently oscillating along its seemed no longer to propel its body through the water 114 THE OCEAN WAIFS. Moreover, on drawing nearer, it swerved slightly from its course, as if with the design either of attacking its adver- sary in the rear, or passing him altogether ! Strange enough, the two parasites appeared to direct this movement : for both kept swimming alongside the zygaena, one of them opposite each of its huge eyeballs. The negro seemed slightly perplexed by this unexpected manoeuvre. He had anticipated an instantaneous attack, and had made every preparation to receive and repel it. He had even taken the knife from his teeth, and was holding it tightly clutched in his right hand, ready to deal his deadly blow. The shyness of the shark produced a disappointment. Something besides : for it now occurred to Snowball that the cunning zygcena was trying to pass him, with the design of making a razzia towards the helpless party in his rear. The moment this suspicion arose to him he turned short in the water, and struck out in a direction that would enable him to head the shark, and, if possible, intercept it. Whether the creature intended to pursue his original plan of attacking the sailor and his charge, or whether he was manoeuvring to turn the Coromantee, it mattered not. In either case Snowball was pursuing the correct strategy. He knew that if his supple antagonist could once get round to his rear, his chances of safety for himself or the others would be sadly diminished. Should the zygaena once get past him and continue on towards the sailor, swift swimmer as Sncw ball was, he could have no chance of overtaking a fish. At this crisis a thought occurred to him which promised to avert the calamity he most dreaded, that is, the shark get- ting past him, and continuing on to the others. The thought found expression in speech. " Ho ! Massa Brace ! " he cried, once more taking the steel from between his teeth. " Swim roun' to de right. Keep a-gwine in de circle. For de Lord sake, keep ahind o>e, or you loss fo 1 satin ! " A RING PERFORMANCE. 115 The sailor scarcely needed the counsel. He sa*r the dan- ger before Snowball had spoken, and had already commeaced the movement which the Coromantee was requesting him to make. Once more the tableau changed. The dramatis persona in their relative positions first formed an isosceles triangle, then a scalene, afterwards a right line. Now all were mov- ing in a circle, or rather in three circles concentric to one another ; the sailor, with his charge, revolving round the centre, Snowball in mid radius, while the shark, flanked by his satellites, went gliding along the outer circumference, his lurid eyes glaring continually inward, as if watching for an opportunity to break the line so carefully guarded by the Coromantee ! For full five minutes was this " ring " performance kept up, without any great alteration occurring in the relative positions of the parties. But it was a game in which the outside player had all the advantage ; for, although the zygaena had by far the greater distance to traverse, what was but sport to it was fatigue and the danger of drowning to its adversaries. Had its skull been of a different formation, and filled with a better set of brains, it would have endeavored to keep up that game, without in the least degree changing the mode of playing it. In due time, its chief antagonist, Snowball, must have cried quarter or gone to the bottom ; and far sooner must have sunk the weighted swimmer in his wake. But sharks, like other creatures both aquatic and terres- trial, have their moments of impatience and anger ; and the eygajna, yielding to these passions, common to both piscine and human nature, at length determined to break through the rules of the game, and bring the play to an abrupt termi- nation. In obedience to this impulse, it suddenly swerved from it* circular course, and, heading towards the spot where Bee 116 THE OCEAN WAIFS. Brace, with Lilly Laleo clinging to his shoulder, was j erforna- ing bis shorter revolutions, it made a reckless and determined rush for the centre, equally regardless of the admonition of its brace of monitors and the cold steel of the Coroman- tee, gleaming clear under the water through which it would have to make its way. So near had it to pass to the negro's flat nose thai ; ts glutinous skin would be almost in contact with his prominent lips, and with his outstretched hand he need have no difficulty in striking his slippery antagonist. Had Snowball been anticipating this change of tactics, he could not have acted more adroitly, or with greater prompt- ness. As the zygcena was gliding onward, and just as its rough pectoral passed within an inch of his nose, he suddenly returned the knife between his teeth, and, simultaneously using both hands and limbs, he sprang upward in the w^tar, and, with a vigorous effort, launched himself on its bas/k ! In the next instant he was seen, or might have been seen, with one hand, the left, firmly grasping the bony protuberance of the zygzena's left eye, his muscular fingera deeply imbedded in the socket, while his right, clutching the long knife, was inflicting a series of stabs against the side of his adversary, now flashing high in the air, now gleaming under water, going up and down with all the measured regu- larity of a trip-hammer. When it pleased the Coromantee to dismount from hid slippery saddle, the zygasna floated by his side, a carcasi Btained with its own blood, that for fathoms around oned the azure waters of the ocean 1 THE CHASE OF THE CATAMARAN. Ill CHAPTER XXXIII. THE CHASE OP THE CATAMARAN. AS we have said, little William, standing near the stern of the Catamaran, had watched the spectacle with suspended breath. It was only after seeing the zygaena float lifeless on the water, and becoming satisfied that Snow- ball had come out of the struggle safe as well as victorious, that the boy gave utterance to a shout. Then, unable longer to restrain himself, he raised a cry of joyful exultation. It was neither prolonged nor repeated. It had scarce passed his lips, ere it was succeeded by another of very dif- ferent import. This was the very opposite to a shout of joy : rather was it a cry of consternation. That little drama of the ocean, of which he had been the sole spectator, was not yet over. There was another act to come of equally thrilling interest with that just ended, an act in which he himself would be called upon to play an important part along with the others. It had already commenced ; and the wild cry which es- caped from the lips of the sailor-lad announced his first per- ception of the new phase into which the drama had entered. Absorbed in the contemplation of the combat between Snowball and the shark, he had hitherto remained unobserv- ant of a circumstance of the most alarming character, one that threatened not only the destruction of the Coromantee, but Ben Brace as well, and Lilly Lalee, and in time little William himself, in short, of the whole party. The lives of all were at that moment in the hands of the sailor-lad, or if not in his hands, then were all of them doomed to certain destruction. You may be wondering what strange circumstance this was, fraught with such a terrible contingency. There was 118 THE OCEAN WAIFS nothing mysterious in or about it. It was simply that the Catamaran, carrying its large spread sail, was drifting te leeward, and rapidly increasing the distance between itself and the swimmers. Relieved from the anxiety with which he had regarded the conflict, little William at once became aware of this new danger, hence his cry of consternation. Ben Brace either perceived it at the same instant, or else the shout of his protige had drawn his attention to it ; for, quick succeeding the latter, the voice of the sailor went rolling across the water in words of direction intended for the ears of little William. " Will'm ! Will'm ! " shouted he, raising his lips above the surface so as to enunciate more distinctly. " For marcy's sake, lad, lay hold on the steerin' oar. Try to tack round, or we 're lost one an' all o' us ! " At the same instant Snowball sputtered out some very similar orders ; but beirg sadly out of breath from his ex- ertions in the long-continued struggle with the zygama, what proceeded from his mouth less resembled words than the snorting of a porpoise ; and was, in truth, altogether unin- telligible. Little William needed no instructions, neither to hear nor understand them. He had perceived the danger, and, with intuitive promptness, had commenced taking measures to avoid it. Partly guided by his own thoughts and partly by the directions of Ben Brace, he sprang suddenly to wards the steering oar ; and, grasping it in both hands, he worked with all his might to bring the Catamaran about. After a time he succeeded in getting her head as close to the wind as such a craft was capable of sailing, but it soon became evident to him that the manoeuvre would be of little or no avail. Although the raft did not make leeway quite as much as before, still with its great sail, rudely bent as it wa., she made sufficient to preserve the distance from the THE CHASE OF THE CATAMARAN. 119 ; and, as William anxiously observed, still slightly increasing Even Snowball, who, after giving the coup dt grace to the zygaena, had struck direct towards the Co- tatharan, even he, unencumbered by aught save his wet shirt and trousers, although easily passing the others in his course, did not appear to gain an inch upon the runaway raft. It was an anxious time for all parties ; and the anxiety reached its height when they perceived, as one and all soon did, that the unmanageable craft was keeping its distance, if not gaining a greater. That state of things could not continue long. Both the .:'.vimmers had already begun to show signs of flagging. Snowball, sea-duck that he was, might have held out a good while; but the sailor, weighted with Lalee, must soon "go mder." Even Snowball could not swim forever ; and, un \s some incident should arise to change the character of this aquatic chase, and arrest the Catamaran in her leeward course, sooner or later must the Coromantee become also the prey of the all-swallowing ocean. For several minutes they seemed hours to all did the struggle continue between man and Catamaran, without any very great advantage in favor of either. It is true some change had taken place in the relative positions of the parties. The Coromantee, at starting in pursuit of the raft, had been some fathoms in the wake of Ben Brace and hia protege. They were now in his wake, falling, alas ! still farther behind him. Unfortunately for all, Snowball, while increasing his distance from them, was not lessening it from the Catamaran ; and therefore the advantage he was gain- ing over the sailor could be of no use, so long as the raft proved swifter as a sailer than he was as a swimmer. Snowball's original idea in striking out in pursuit of the Catamaran was to get aboard ; and, by making a better use of the steering oar than he had hitherto done, to bring th 120 THE OCEAN WAIFS. craft back within saving distance of the exhausted swimmer Confident in his natatory powers, he had at first believed this feat to be not only possible, but probable and easy. It was only after several minutes spent in the pursuit, and the distance between him and the Catamaran seemed to grow greater instead of less, that the negro really began to feel anxiety about the result. This anxiety kept increasing as the minutes passed, and the broad stretch of blue water between him and the Ca- tamaran appeared to grow no narrower, strike out as he would with all the strength of his sinewy arms, and kick as he might with all the muscular energy that lay in his stout legs. His anxiety became anguish, when, after one of his most vigorous efforts, he believed, or fancied, that all had been in vain, and that the Catamaran had actually gained upon him. Whether fancy or not, it produced conviction in his mind that to overtake the craft was impossible ; and all at once he discontinued the attempt He did not, however, remain stationary in the water. Far from that. On abandoning the pursuit of the Catamaran, he turned like an otter, and looked back in the direction from which he had come. In this direction, nearly two hundred fathoms distant, two dark objects, so close together as to seem one, were visible over the " curl " of the water. They were just visible to an eye elevated several inches above the surface ; and Snowball was obliged to buoy him- self into an erect attitude, like a seal taking a survey of the circle around it, or a dog pitched unexpectedly into :i deep pond, before he could see them. He saw them, however ; he knew what they were ; and, without a moment's pause or hesitation, he recommenced cleaving the water in a line leading directly towards them. The mind of the Coromantee, hitherto distracted by con- flicting emotions, had now but one thought. It was less THE SAIL OUT OF SIGHT. 19} purpose than a despairing instinct It was to support the child who had been intrusted to him the Lill) Lalee above water as long as he should have strength ; and then to go down along with her into that vast, fathomless tomb, that leaves no trace and carries no epitaph ! CHAPTER XXXIV. THE SAIL OUT OF SIGHT. THE sea-cook and the sailor were now swimming towards each other. It is true that Ben was not making very rapid way, nor did Snowball return on his course with any great alacrity. Despair had rendered the latter somewhat irresolute ; and he scarcely knew why he was swimming back, unless it was to be drowned in company with the others ; for drowning now appeared their inevitable fate. Slowly as both swam, they soon came together, the countenances of both, as they met, exhibiting that fixed, despairing look which bespeaks the utter extinction of hope. The Catamaran was now at such a distance, that even could she have been suddenly arrested in her course, ant brought to an anchor, it was doubtful whether either Snow- ball or the sailor could have reached her by swimming. The raft itself and the water-casks lashed around it were no longer to be seen. Only the white sail, that like a bit of fleecy cloud, equally fleeting, was fast lessening to a speck upon the distant horizon. No wonder that hope had for- saken them ! The sailor wondered that the sail was still set. During the first moments, while endeavoring to come up with the craft, he had shouted to "William to let go the ha'liards e 122 THE OCEAN WAIFS. He had kept repeating this order, until his roice, alieadj hoarse and faltering, grew almost inarticulate from shoe* exhaustion of breath, and the raft, moreover, had drifted to euch a distance that it was not likely the lad could hear him. Under this impression he had at length discontinued his feeble cries, and swam on in slow and gloomy silence, wond- ering why William had not obeyed his injunctions, feeling chagrin at his not doing so, and with good reason, since the lowering of the sail might have still given them some chance of overtaking the craft. It was just as the sailor had given over calling out, and relapsed into sullen silence, that Snowball was seen return- ing towards him. It was an additional argument for despair this abandonment of the chase on the part of the Coroman- tee. When such a swimmer had given it up, Ben knew it was hopekss. In a moment ** : they met face to face. The glance exchanged betw* \,n them was mutually understood without a word spoken by either. Each tacitly read in the eyes of the other the dread destiny that awaited them, near, and soon to be fulfilled, drowning ! Snowball was the first to break the terrible silence. " You nigh done up, Massa Ben, you muss be ! Gib me de lilly gal. You Lally ! you lay hold on ma shoulder, and let Massa Brace ress a bit." "No, no!" protested the sailor, in a despairing tone. " It bean't no use. I can carry her a bit longer. 'T ain't much longer as any o' us '11 be " " Sh ! Massa Brace," interrupted the negro, speaking in a oppressed whisper, and looking significantly towards the child. " Hope dar 's no danger yet," he added, in a voice intended for the ear of Lalee. " We oborhaul de Catama- ran by 'm by. De wind change, and bring dat crafF down on us. Peak in de French, Massa Ben," he continued, at the tune time adroitly adopting a patois of that language. " De THE SAIL OUT OF SIGHT. 128 fMtivi e jeune jitte don't understan' de French lingo. 1 know it am all ober wi' boaf you an' me, and de gal, too .but doan let her know it to de lass minute. It be no use to do dat, only make her feel wuss.'* " Eh Men ! all right, ! " muttered Ben, indiscriminately mingling his French and English phrases. " Pauvre en- fant ! She shan't know nothin' from me o' what be afore her. Lord a marcy on all o' us ! I don't see the raft any more ! Whar be it ? Can you see it, Snowball ? " " Gorramity, no ! " replied the black, raising himself up in the water to get a better view. " Gone out o' de sight alto- gedder ! We nebba see dat Catamaran any more, no, nebba ! " The additional accent of despair with which these words were uttered was scarce perceptible. Had there been a hope, it would have been shattered by the disappearance of the raft, whose white sail was now no longer visible against the blue background of the horizon. But all hope had previously been abandoned ; and this new phase of the drama pi'oduced but slight change in the minds of its chief nctors. Death was already staring them in the face with that determination which promised no prospect of avoiding it, and none was cherished. The only change that occurred was in the action. The swimmers no longer directed them- selves in a particular course. There was none for them to follow. With the disappearance of the sail they no longer knew in what direction to look for the raft. For all they now knew of it, it might have gone to the bottom, leaving them alone upon the bosom of the limitless ocean. " No use swimmin' on'ards ! " said Ben, despairingly. u It 11 only waste the bit of strength that be left us." " No use," assented the negro. " Less lay to, and float on de water. Dat be easier, and we can keep up de longer Do, Massa Ben, gib me de gal. You mo' tired dan L Come, lilly Lally, you grasp hold on ma shoulder ! Dat'i de bess way. Conre, now, come, dear lilly "*li*" 124 THE OCEAN WAIFS. And as Snowball spoke, he swam close alongside the girl and, gently detaching her hand from the shoulder of th< sailor, transferred its feeble grasp to his own. Ben no longer offered resistance to this generous action on t!i3 part of his old comrade : for, in truth, he stood in dire necessity of the relief; and, the transfer having been effected, both continued to float upon the water, sustaining themselves with no more effort than was absolutely neces- sary to keep their heads above the surface. CHAPTER XXXV. WAITING FOR DEATH. FOR several minutes the wretched castaways of the Catamaran remained in their perilous position, al- most motionless in the midst of the deep blue water, pre- cariously suspended upon its surface, suspended between life and death ! Under any circumstances the situation would have been trying to the stoutest nerves, even under circumstances where a hope of deliverance might have been indulged in. Without this it was awful. Neither black man nor white one any longer contemplated the danger of death : both believed in its certainty. How could they doubt it? Had either been standing upon the scaffold, with the condemned cap drawjj over his eyes and the rope adjusted around his neck, he could not have felt surer of the nearness of his end. Both believed it to be simply a question of time ; an hour or two, perhaps not so much, since the fatigues and strug- gles through wlu'ch they had just passed had already made WATTING FOB DEATH. 12 lad inroads upon their strength, but an hour w two at most, and all would be over. Both must succumb to the laws of Nature, the laws of gravitation, or rather of specific gravity, and sink below the surface, down, down into the fathomless and unknown abysm of the ocean. Along with them, sharing their sad fate, Lilly Lal^, that pretty, uncomplaining child, the innocent victim of an ill-starred destiny, must disappear forever from a world of which she had as yet seen so little, and that little of the least favorable kind. Throughout the whole affair the girl had shown but slight signs of the terrible affright that, under the circumstances, might have been expected. Born in a land and brought up among a people where human life was lightly and precari- ously held, she had been often accustomed to the spectacle of death, which to some extent robs it of its terrors. At all events, they who are thus used appear to meet it with a more stocial indifference. It would be a mistake to suppose that the girl appeared indifferent Nothing of the sort. She exhibited apprehen- sion, fear sufficient; but whether her mind was over- whelmed by the extreme peril of the situation, or that she was still ignorant of its being extreme, certain it is that her behavior, from beginning to end, was characterized by a calmness that seemed supernatural, or at all events super- human. Perhaps she was sustained by the confidence .she had in the brace of brave protectors swimming alongside of her, both of whom, even in that extreme hour, carefully refrained from communicating to her the belief which they themselves in all fulness entertained, that their lives wer fast approaching to a termination. The minds of both were fully imbued with this conviction, though not in the same degree of fulness. If possible, th~. white man felt more certain of the proximity of his end than did the negro. It is not oasy it} tell why it was so. Tho 126 THE OCEAN WAIFS. reason may, perhaps, be found in the fact, that the latter had been so often on the edge of the other world, had so ofter escaped entering it, that, despite the impossibility of escaping from his present peril, to all appearance absolute, there still lingered in his breast some remnant of hopefulness. Not so with the sailor. From the bosom of Ben Brace every vestige of hope had vanished. He looked upon life as no longer possible. Once or twice the thought had actu- ally entered his mind to put an end to the struggle, and, along with it, the agony of that terrible hour, by suspending the action of his arms, and suffering himself to sink to the bottom of the sea ' He was only restrained from the suicidal act, by the influence of that instinct of our nature, which ab- hors self-destruction, and admonishes, or rather compels us, to abide the final moment when death comes to claim us as its own. Thus, by different circumstances, and under different in fluences, were the three castaways of the Catamaran sus- tained upon the surface of the water, Lilly Lalee by Snowball, Snowball, by the slightest ray of hope still lingering in a corner of his black bosom, the sailor by an instinct causing him to refrain from the committal of that act which, in civilized society, under all circumstances, u considered as a crime. A CflfcST AT SEA. 1*3 CHAPTER XXXVI. A CHEST AT SEA. ALL conversation had come to an end. E%en ilie few phrases at intervals exchanged between Snowball and the bailor, the solemn import of which had been zeal- ously kept from the child by their being spoken in French, were no longer heard. The swimmers, now wellnigh exhausted, had for a long interval preserved this profound silence, partly for the rea- son of their being exhausted, and partly that no change had occurred in the circumstances surrounding them, nothing that required a renewal of the conversation. The awe of approaching death, now so near, that twenty minutes or a quarter of an hour might be regarded as the ultimate mo- ment, held, as if spell-bound, the speech both of Snowball and the sailor. There were no other sounds to interrupt the silence of that solemn moment, at least none worthy of being men- tioned. The slightest ripple of the water, stirred by a zephyr breeze, as it played against the bodies of the languid swim- mers, might have been heard, but was not heeded. No more did the scream of the sea-mew arrest the attention of any of them, or if it did, it was only to add to the awe which reigned above and around them. In this moment of deep silence and deepest misery, a voice fell upon the ears of the two swimmers that startled both of them, as if it had been a summons from the other world. It sounded sweet as if from the world of eternal joy. There was no mystery in the voice ; it was that of the Lilly Lalee. The child, sustained upon the shoulder of the buoyant black, was in such a position that her eyes were elevated 128 THE OCEAN WAIFS. over the surface of the water several inches above thos* either of him who supported her or the sailor who swam by her sMe. In this situation she had a better view than either; and, as a consequence of this advantage, she saw what was visible to neither, a dark object floating upon tbv surface of the sea at no great distance from the spot where the exhausted swimmers were feebly struggling to sustain themselves. It was the announcement of this fact that had fallen with such startling effect upon the ears of the two men, simul- taneously rousing both from that torpor of despair which for some time had held possession of them. " Who you see, Lilly Lally ? Who you see ? " exclaimed Snowball, who was the first to interrogate the girl. " Look at 'im 'gain, look, good lilly gal ! " continued he, at the same time making an effort to elevate the shoulder which gave support to hi.s protege. * Wha be it ? 'T ain't de raff, de Catamaran 9 Eh ? " " No, no," replied the child. " It is n't that. It 's a small thing of a square shape. It looks like a box." u A box ? how come dat ? A box ! what de debbel " Shiver my timbers if 't ain't my old sea-kit," interrupted the sailor, rearing himself aloft in the water like a spaniel in search of wounded waterfowl. " Sure as my name 's Ben Brace it be that, an' nothing else!" "Your sea-chess?" interrogated Snowball, elevating his woolly cranium above the water, so as also to command a view. " Golly ! I b'lieve it am. How he come dar ? You leff 'im on de raff? " " I did," replied the sailor. " The very last thing I had my hands upon, afore I jumped overboard. Sure I bean't mistaken, ne'er a bit o' it It be the old k'lt to a sar tainty." This conversation was carried on in a quick, hurried AN IMPROVISED LIFE-PRESEEVEB. 129 and long before it ended, in fact at the moment of its be- ginning, the swimmers had once more put themselves in motion, and were striking out in the direction of the object thus unexpectedly presented to their view. CHAPTER XXXVII. AN IMPROVISED LIFE-PRESERVER. WHETHER it should turn out to be the sea-chest of Ben Brace or no, it appeared to be a chest of some sort ; and, being of wood, buoyantly floating on the water, it promised to help in supporting the swimmers, now so utterly exhausted as to be on the point of giving up, and going to the bottom. It" the sailor had entertained any doubts as to the char- acter of the object upon which they were advancing, they were soon brought to an end. It was a sea-chest, his own, to him easy of identification. Well knew he that close-fitting canvas cover, which he had himself made for it, rendered waterproof by a coat of blue paint, well knew he those hanging handles of strong sennit, he had himself plaited and attached to it ; and, as if to provide against any possible dispute about the ownership of the chest, were the letters " B. B.," the unmistakable initials of Ben Brace, painted conspicuously upon its side, just under the keyhole, with a " fouled anchor " beneath, with stars and other fan- tastic emblems scattered around, all testifying to the artistic skill of the owner of the kit. The first thought of the sailor, on recognizing his chest, was that some misfortune had happened to the raft, and tha/ it had gone to pieces. 6* I 130 THE OCEAN WAIFS. Poor little Will'm ! " said he. " If that be BO, then K be all over wi' him." This belief was but of short duration, and was followed by a reflection of a more pleasant kind. "No!" he exclaimed, contradicting his first hypothesis. "It can't be that. What could 'a broke up the raft? There 's been no wind, nor rough weather, as could 'a done it. Ha ! I have it, Snowy. It 's Will'm 's did this. He 's throwed over the chest in the behopes it might help float us That's how it's got here. Huzza for that brave boy! Let 's cling on to the kit. There may be hope for us yet." This suggestion was superfluous : for the idea of clinging to the kit was intuitive, and had entered the minds of both swimmers on their first perceiving it. It was with that view they had simultaneously set themselves in motion, and com- menced swimming towards it. The chest certainly offered an attractive object to men circumstanced as they were at that moment, something more than a straw to be clutched at. It was floating bottom downwards, and lid upwards, just as it might have been placed opposite Ben's own bunk in the forecastle of a frigate, and it appeared to be kept steadily balanced in this posi- tion by the weight of some iron electing along the bottom, which acted as ballast. Otherwise the chest sat so high upon the water, as to show that it must either !>; quite empty or nearly so; for the sennit handles at ea>i)/ tnd. which were several inches below the level of the lid, hung \u\te clear above the surface. These handles offered the most salient points to eizi: ipon ; so tempting, too, that it was not necessary for the tailor to suggest that Snowball should lay hold of one, while he himself sought the support of the other. This arrangement appeared to offer itself tacitly fo the instinct of eaeh ; and, on arriving near the chest, they to opposite ends, and each laid hold of a handle, as M he ciune within the proper distance to grasp iU 131 This kept the chest property balanced ; and although die weight they added to it caused it to sink several inches ir tibe water, to their great joy its top still stood well above the surface. Even when the light form of Lilly Lalee lay rest- ing along the lid, there were still several inches between the water line and its upper edge, the only place where sea water could possibly find admission into the kit of the sailor. - CHAPTER XXXVIII. COKJECTURES ABOUT THE CATAXAKAH. Eless than three minutes after coming in contact with he kit, the three castaways formed a group, curious and peculiar. On the right of the chest was the sailor, his body stretched transversely along its end, with his left arm buried to the elbow in the sennit loop forming its handle. Half of his weight being thus supported by the buoyant box, it was only necessary for him to keep his right arm La regular motion to sustain himself above the surface. This, even wearied as he was, he was enabled to accomplish without difficulty : for the new position was one rather of rest than of labor. At the opposite end of the chest, in a pose precisely simi- lar, the sea-cook had placed himself, the only difference being in the uses respectively made of their arms. Snow- ball's right arm was the one thrust through the handle, his left being left free for swimming. As already hinted, Lilly Lalee had been transferred from Snowball's shoulder to a more elevated position, upon the top of the chest where, lying upon her breast, and grasping the projecting edge^of the lid, she was enabled to keep her place without any exertion. 132 THE OCEAN WAIFS. It ia not necessary to say that this change in the situation and circumstances of the paYty had also produced a change in their prospects. It is true that death might have appeared as inevitable as ever. They were still at its door, though not quite so near entering as they had been but a few minutes before. With the help of the capacious chest forming, ay it did, a famous life-preserver they might now sustain themselves for many hours above the surface, in fact, as long as hunger and thirst would allow them. Their holding out would be simply a question of strength ; and had they been only assured of a supply of food and drink, they might have looked forward to a long voyage performed in this sin- gular fashion : that is, provided the sea around them should keep clear of storms and sharks. Alas ! the approach of one or the other of these perils was a contingency to be looked for at any moment, and to be dreaded accordingly. Just at that moment they were not thinking of either, nor even of the probability of perishing by hunger or its kindred appetite, thirst. The singular coincidence that the chest should come floating that way, just when they were on the point of perishing, had produced a remarkable effect on the minds both of the sailor and the sea-cook, begetting no; positive conviction, but a pleasant presentiment that there might be other and more permanent succor in store for them ; and that, after all, they were not destined to die by drowning, at least not just then Hope, sweet, soothing hope! had again sprung up in the bosom of both ; and, along with it the determination to make a further effort for the saving of their lives. They could now exchange both speech and counsel with perfect freedom ; and they proceeded to discuss the situation. The presence of the chest required explanation. The theory, which at first sight of it had suggested itself to its wner (that the raft had gone to pieces and that t\e kit was CONJECTURES ABOUT ' THE CATAMARAN. 133 *ne of the scattered fragments) was not tenable, nor was it entertained for a moment. There had been no convulsion, either of winds or waves, to destroy the Catamaran; and this curiously-fashioned fabric, in all its fantastic outlines, must still be intact and afloat somewhere upon the surface of the sea. It is true they could see nothing of it anywhere ; neither could Lilly Lalee, who, from her more elevated position, was instructed to survey the circle of the horizon, a duty which the child performed with the greatest care. If the craft had been anywhere within the distance of a league or two, the large lateen sail should have been suffi- ciently conspicuous to have caught the eye of the girl. But she saw it not. She saw nothing, so ran her report, but the sea and sky. From this it might have been inferred (even supposing the Catamaran to be still afloat) that it must have drifted to such a distance as to have destroyed all chance of their ever overtaking it But the sage seaman did not give way to this form of reasoning. His conjectures were of a more consolatory character, founded upon certain data which had presented themselves to his mind. On reflection, he came to the conclusion that the presence of the sea-chest upon the bosom of the blue water was no accidental circum- stance, but a design, the design of little William. " I be sure o't, Snowy," said he ; " the lad ha' chucked tkw kit overboard, knowin' as how we mout overhaul it, when we could not come up wi' the Catamaran. The chest war amidships, when I parted from it It could n't a' got into the water o' itself no-how-somever ; besides, it war full o' heavy things, and now I 'm sartin it be empty, else how do it float so ? Sure he must a' wbammeled it upside down, an' spilled out the things afore he pitched it overboard. It wai thoughtful o' him ; but he be jast the one for that I 've seed bnn do some'at similar afore- Only think o' the dear boy I " 134 THE OCEAN WAIFS. And Ben, after this burst of enthusiasm, for a moment indulged his admiration in silence. " Dat s all berry likely, berry likely," was the rejoinder of the Coromantee. " I know what he did next," said Ben, continuing the thread of his conjectures. " Wha' you tink, Massa Brace ? " " He tuk in sail. I don't know why he did n't do it sooner ; for I called to him to do that, an' he must ha' heerd me, I 've jest got a idea that the fault was n't his 'n. When I hauled up that bit o' canvas, I 've a sort o' recollection o' puttin' a ugly knot on the haulyards. Maybe he warn't able, wi' his little bits o' digits, to get the snarl clear, as fast as mout a' been wished ; an' that '11 explain the whole thing. Sartin he got down the sail at last, eyther by loosin' the belay, or cuttin' the piece o' rope, and that 's why there be no canvas in sight. For all that, the Catamaran can't be so fur off. She had n't had time to a' drifted to such a great distance, 'specially if the sail were got down the time as we missed it." " Dat am true. I miss de sail all ob a sudden, jess as if it had come down, yard an' all, straight slap bang." " Well, then, Snowy," continued the sailor, in a tone of increased cheerfulness, " if 't be as we conjecture, the craft ain't far ahead o' us yet. Maybe only a knot or two ; for one can't see far over the water who happens to be neck- deep under it as we be. In any case she be sure to be lying to leuwart o' us ; and, without the sail, she won't drift faster than we can swim, nor yet so fast. Let us do the best we can to make a mile or two's leeway ; an' then we '11 know whether the old Cat's still crawling about, or whether she 's gin us the slip altogether. That 's the best thing we can do, ain't it ? " " De berry bess, Massa Brace. We can't do r uffin better dan swim down de wind." DOWN THE WIND. 1-35 Without further parley, the two set themselves to the task thus proposed ; and one striking with his right hand, the other with his left, both buffeting the waves with equal vigor and resolution, they were soon sweeping onward with a velocity that caused the sea to surge along the sides of the chest, until the froth rose to the fingers of Lilly Lalee as she lay grasping its lid ! CHAPTER XXXIX. DOWN THE WIND. T1HEY had not proceeded very far, when a cry from the girl caused them to suspend their exertions. While the others were occupied in propelling the chest, Lalee, kneeling upon the lid, had been keeping a lookout ahead. Something she saw had elicited that cry, which was uttered in a tone that betokened, if not joy, at least some sort of gratification. " Wha is it, Lilly Lally ? " interrogated the black, with an air of eagerness ; " you see someting. Golly ! am it de Catmaran?" " No, it is not that. It 's only a barrel floating on the water." " Only a ba'l, what sort o' a ba'l you tink 5 im ? * " I think it 's one of the empty water-casks we had tied to the raft. I 'm sure it is : for I see ropes upon it." "It is," echoed Ben, who, having poised himself aloft, had also caught sight of the cask. " Shiver my timbers I it do look like as if the Cat had como to pieces. But no 1 T ain't that has set the cask adrift. I ses it all now. Littte Will'm be at the bottom o' this too. H has cut away th* 136 THE OCEAN WAIFS. lashin's o' the barrel, so as to gie us one more chance, in the case o' our not comin' across the chest. How thoughtful o' the lad ! Just like 'ira, as I said it war ! " "We bess swim for de cask an' take 'im in tow," sug- gested the sea-cook ; " no harm hab 'im 'longside too. If de wind 'pring up, de ole chess be no use much. De cask de berry ting den." " You 're right, Snowy ! we musn't leave the cask behind us. If the kit have served us a good turn, the other 'ud be safer in a rough sea. It be dead ahead, so we may keep straight on." In five minutes after, they were alongside the cask, easily recognized by its rope lashings, as one of those they had left attached to the raft. The sailor at the first glance saw that some of the chords encircling it had been cut with a knife, or other sharp instrument, not severed with any degree of exactitude, but " haggled," as if the act had been hurriedly performed. " Little Will'm again ! He 's cut the ropes wi' the old axe, an' it were blunt enough to make a job for him ! Huzza for the noble lad ! " " Tay ! " cried Snowball, not heeding the enthusiastic out- burst of the sailor. " You hold on to de chess, Massa Brace, while I climb up on de cask, and see what I can see. May be I may see de Catamaran herseff now." " All right, nigger. You had better do that. Mount the barrel, an' I '11 keep a tight hold o' the kit." Snowball, releasing his arm from the sennit loop, swam up to the floating cask ; and, after some dodging about, suc- ceeded in getting astride of it. It required a good deal of dexterous manoeuvring to keep the cask from rolling, and pitching him back into the water. But Snowball was just the man to *xcel in this sort of aquatic gymnastics; and after a time he became balanced in his seat with sufficient steadiness to admit of his hiking ft fair survey of the ocean around him. DOWN THE WIND. 137 JThe sailor had watched his movements with an 3ager yet hopeful eye : for these repeated indications of both the presence and providence of his own protege had almost convinced him that the latter would not be very distant from the spot. It was nothing more than he had prepared him self to expect, when the Coromantee, almost as soon as he had steadied himself astride of the water-cask, shouted, in a loud voice, "The Oaf moron J the Catmaran!" " "Where ? " cried the sailor. " To leuwart ? " u Dead in dat same direcshun." " How fur, cooke ? how fur ? " " Not so fur as you might hear de bos'n's whissel ; not more dan tree, four length ob a man-o-war cable." " Enough, Snowy ! What do you think best to be done?" " De bess ting we can do now," replied the negro, " am Jbr me to obertake dat ere craff. As you said, de sail am down ; an' de ole Cat no go fasser dan a log o' 'hogany wood in a calm o' de tropic. If dis child swim affer, he soon come up ; and den wif de oar an' de help ob lilly Willy, he meet you more dan half way, dat fo' sartin." " You think you can overtake her, Snowball ? " " I be sartin ob dat ere. You tay here wif Lilly Lally. Keep by de chess and de cask boaf, for de latter am bet- ter dan de former. No fear, I soon bring de Cat'maran 'long dis way, once I get 'board o' her." So saying, the negro gave the cask a " cant " to one side, slipped off into the water ; and, with a final caution to his comrade to keep close to the spot where they were parting he stretched out his muscular arms to their full extern, and commenced surging through the water, snorting as h went like some huge cetacean of the tribe of the Mysticni 188 THE OCEAN WAIFS. CHAPTER XL. LAUNCHING THE LIFE-PRESERVER. IT is scarce necessary to say that, during all this time. Lit- tle William, on board the Catamaran, was half wild with anxious thoughts. He had obeyed the first instructions shouted to him by Ben Brace, and taken to the steering oar ; but, after struggling for some time to get the craft round, and seeing that his efforts were of no avail, he dropped it to com- ply with the still later orders given by the sailor : to let loose the halliards and lower the sail. Ben had wondered, and with a slight feeling of chagrin, why this last order had not been executed, at least more promptly, for at a later period he knew the sail had been lowered ; but Ben was of course ignorant of the cause of the delay. His conjecture, however, afterwards expressed, when he half-remembered having put " a ugly knot on the haulyards,'' which he, little William, " maybe war n't able to get clear as fast as mout a been wished," was perfectly correct ; as was also the additional hypothesis that the sail had been got down at last, " either by loosin' the belay or cuttin' the piece o' rope." The latter was in reality the mode by which the sailor lad had succeeded in lowering the sail. As Ben had conjectured, the belaying loop had proved too much for the strength of William's fingers ; and, after sev- eral fruitless efforts to untie the knot, he had at length given it up, and, seizing the axe, had severed the halliard by cut- ting it through and through. Of course the sail came down upon the instant ; but it waa then too late ; and when William again looked out over the ocean, he saw only the ocean itself, with neither spot nor speck to break the uniformity of its boundless bosom of blue LAUNCHING THE LIFE-PRESERVER. 139 In that glance he perceived that he was alone, Le felt for the first time that he was alone upon the ocean ! The thought was sufficient to beget despair, to pfxra.yzt: him against all further action ; and, had he been a boy of tte ordinary stamp, such might have been the result But he was not one of this kind. The spirit which had first im- pelled him to seek adventure by sea, proved a mind moulded for enterprise and action. It was not the sort of spirit to yield easily to despair ; nor did it then. Instead of resigning himself up to fate or chance, he con- tinued to exert the powers both of his mind and body, in the hope that something might still be done to retrieve the misfortune which had befallen the crew of the Catamaran. He again returned to the steering oar ; and, hastily detach- ing it from the hook upon which it had been mounted as a rudder, he commenced using it as a paddle, and endeavored to propel the raft against the wind. It is scarce necessary to say that he employed all his strength in the effort ; but, notwithstanding this, he soon be- came convinced that he was employing it in vain. The huge Catamaran lay just as Snowball had characteristically described her, " like a log o' 'hogany wood in a calm oh de tropic." Even worse than this ; for, paddle as he would, the sailor lad soon perceived that the raft, instead of making way against the wind, or even holding its ground, still continued to drift rapidly to leeward. At this crisis another idea occurred to him. It might have occurred sooner, had his mind not been monopolized with the hope of being able to row the raft to windward. Failing in this, however, his next idea was to throw some- thing overboard, something that might afford a support to the swimmers struggling in the water. The first object that came under his eyes promising such support was the sea-kit of the sailor. As already stated, it 1*0 THE OCEAN WAIFS. was amidships, where its owner had been exploring it, The lid was open, and little William perceived that it waa wellnigh eicpty ; since its contents could be seen scattered on all sides, just as the sailor had rummaged them out, form ing ^ paraphernalia of sufficient variety and extent to have furnis-fejd the forecastle of a frigate. The sight of the chest, with its painted canvas covering, which Little William knew to be water-tight, was suggestive. With the lid locked down, it might act as a buoy, and serve for a life-preserver. At all events, no better appeared to offer itself.; and, without further hesitation, the lad slammed down the lid, which fortunately had the trick of locking itself with a spring, and, seizing the chest by one of the sen- nit handles, he dragged it to the edge of the raft, gave it a final push, and launched it overboard into the blue water of the ocean. Little William was pleased to see that the kit, even while in the water, maintained its proper position, that is, it swam bottom downwards. It floated buoyantly, moreover, as if it had been made of cork. He was prepared for this ; for he remembered having listened to a conversation in the forecastle of the Pandora, relating to this very chest, in which Ben Brace had taken the principal part, and in which the sea-going qualities of his kit had been freely and proudly commented upon. William remembered how the ci-devant man-o'-war's-man had boasted of his craft, as he called the kit, proclaiming it a " reg'lar life-buoy in case o' bein* cast away at sea," and declaring that, " if 't war emp'y, as he hoped it never should be, it would float the whole crew o' a pinnace or long-boat." It was partly through this reminiscence that the idea of launching the chest had occurred to little William ; and, as he saw it receding from the stern of the Catamaran, he had some happiness in the hope, that the confidence of his com Damon and protector might not be misplaced ; but that th i LOOK-OUT FROM ALOFT. 141 fu:inted kit might prove the preserver, not only of hit life, but of the life of one who to little William was now eve learer than Ben Brace. That one was Lilly Lalee. CHAPTER XLI. N A LOOK-OUT FROM ALOFT. AFTER launching the kit, little William did not think of surrendering himself to inaction. He bethought him that something more should be done, that some other waifs should be turned adrift from the Catamaran, which, by getting into the way of the swimmers, might offer them an additional chance of support. What next ? A plank ? No ; a cask, one of the empty water-casks ? That would be the thing, the thing itself. No sooner thought of than one was detached. The lash- ings were cut with the axe, in default of his finding a knife ; and the cask, like the kit, soon fell into the wake. Not very rapidly it was true ; for the Catamaran now, deprived of her sail, did not drift so fast to leeward as formerly. Still she went faster than either the kit or the cask, however; on account of the breeze acting upon her stout mast and some other objects that stood high upon her deck ; and William very reasonably supposed that to swimmers so much ex- hausted, as by that time must be both Ben and Snowball, even the difference of a cable's length might be of vita] importance. It occurred to him also, that the greater the number of waifs sent in their way, the better would be their chance of seeing and getting hoj-i of one of them. Instead of (?#.sisting 142 THE OCEAN WAIFS. therefore, as soon as he had detached the first cask, he com menced cutting loose a second, and committing it to the sea in like manner. Having freed a second, he continued on to a third, and than a fourth, and was actually about to sever the lashings of a fifth one, with the intention to leave only the sixth one that which contained the stock of precious water at- tached to the Catamaran. He knew that the raft would still float, without any of the casks to buoy it up ; and it was not any fear on that score that caused him to desist, when about to give the cut to the cords that confined cask No. 5. It was an observation which he had made of an entirely differ- ent nature ; and this was, that the third cask when set loose, and more especially the fourth, instead of falling into the wake of the Catamaran, kept close by her side, as if loath to part company with a craft to which they had been so intimately attached. William wondered at this, but only for a short moment. He was not slow in comprehending the cause of the unex- pected phenomenon. The raft, no longer buoyed up, had sunk almost to the level of the surface ; and the breeze now failed to impel it any faster than the casks themselves : so that both casks and Catamaran were making leeway at a like rate of speed, or rather with equal slowness. Though the sailor lad was dissatisfied on first perceiving this, after a moment's reflection, he saw that it was a favor- able circumstance. Of course, it was not that the casks were making more way to leeward, but that the Catamaran was making less ; and, therefore, if there was a chance of the swimmers coming up with the former, there was an equal probability of their overtaking the latter, which would ba better in every way. Indeed, the raft was now going at such a rate, that the slowest swimmer might easily overtake her, provided the distance between them was not too great. It was this last thought that now occupied tin mind of lit A LOOK-OUT FROM ALOFT. 143 tie William, and rendered him anxious. Had the swimmers fallen too far into the wake ? Or would tley still be able to swim on to the raft ? Where were they at that moment ? He looked aft, to- wards the point from which he supposed himself to have been drifting. He was not sure of the direction ; for the rude construction on which he stood had kept constantly whirling in the water, now the stem, now the quarters, anon the bows, or beam-ends turned towards the breeze. He looked, but saw nothing. Only the sea-kit that by this time bad got several hundred fathoms to windward, cask No. 1 a little nearer, and No. 2 still nearer. These, however, strung out in a line, enabled him to conjecture the direction in vhich the swimmers, if still above water, should be found. Indeed, it was something more definite than a conjecture. Rather was it a certainty. He knew that the raft could not have made way otherwise than down the wind; and that those who belonged to it could not be elsewhere than to windward. Guided, therefore, by the breeze, he gazed in this direc- tion, sweeping with his eye an arc of the horizon suffi- ciently large to allow for any deviation which the swimmers might have made from the true track. He gazed in vain. The kit, the casks, a gull or two, soaring on snowy wings, were all the objects that broke the monotony of the blue water to windward. He glided across the low-lying planks of the raft, and up to the empty cask still attached, which offered the highest point for observation. He balanced himself on its top, and once more scanned the sea to windward. Nothing in sight, save kit, casks, and gulls lazily ply'ug their long ecimetar-shaped wings with easy unconcern, as if the limitless ocean was, what in reality it was, th and, pronouncing his name, caused him to look once more in the direction of the swimmers. Then, instead of seeing the Coromantee astride of the cask, he perceived the round black physiognomy of that individual above the surface of the water, and scarce a cable's length from the Catamaran! A double line of frothy ripple proceeding from each of his large spread ears, and running rapidly into his wake, indi- cated the direction in which he was swimming, towards the raft, while his eyeballs showing fearfully, and white as the froth itself, the spluttering and blowing that proceeded from his thick lips, and the agitation of the sea around him, all told that he was doing his very best to come up with the Oatamaran. " Golly ! " he gasped out, on perceiving himself within safe distance of being heard. " Row dis way, lilly Willy ! Row like de debbil, good lad ! I s'e most done up, dat I be. In de space ob anoder cable length dis chile he muss a gub up ! " And ending his speech with a loud " Whugh," partly to clear the water from his throat, and partly to express the satisfaction he felt at the near prospect of deliverance, he continued to strike on towards the raft. In a few seconds more the long-protracted struggle was brought to a termination. Snowball succeeded in reaching the raft, and, assisted by the sailor lad, clambered aboard. Only staying to catch a little breath, the negro laid hold of the second oar ; and the Catamaran, under the double stroke, was soon brought en rapport with the sea-chest; when the remainder of the crew were restored to her decks, and delivered from a death that but a short time before had raemed so certain as to be inevitable. REFITTING THE RAFT. 148 CHAPTER XLIII. BEFITTING THE BAFT. ON once more setting foot on the deck of the Catamaran, the strong sailor was so thoroughly exhausted that he was unable to stand erect, and after scrambling aboard, and staggering a pace or two, he lay down along the planks. Lilly Lalee was taken care of by little William ; who, half- leading, half-lifting her in his arms, tenderly placed her upon some pieces of canvas near the foot of the mast. For this service, so fondly yet delicately performed, the boy felt himself amply rewarded by the glance of gratitude that shone in the eyes of the child, even without the thanks faintly murmured by her on perceiving she was safe. Snowball, equally exhausted, dropped into a recumbent position. All three remained silent for a considerable length of time, and without stirring either hand or foot, as though to speak or move in their state of extreme weariness was impossible. Little William, however, did not resign himself to inaction. As soon as he had disposed of Lalee, he made direct to that corner of the Catamaran where a small barrel or keg, half submerged under the water, was attached to one of the tim- bers of the craft. It was the keg containing the precious Canary." Carefully extracting the bung, which, in the lashing of the keg, had been purposely kept upwards, he inserted a dipper, that is to say, a small tin vessel, or drinking u taut," which had turned up among the stores of the sea-kit, and which, having been already used for the same purpose, was provided with a piece of cord attached around its rim, like the vessel in use ptnong the gaugers or wine- 150 THE OCEAN WAIFS. merchants for drawing their wine from the wood. Thii wai hoisted out again, filled with the sweet fluid which the keg contained ; and which was at once administered, first to Lilly Lalee, then to William's own especial protector, Ben Brace ; and lastly, after a fresh draw from the keg, to the real owner of the wine, the Coromantee. The spirit of the grape, grown upon the declivities of Tene- riffe, acted like magic on all three ; and in a few minutes both sailor and sea-cook were sufficiently restored to think about taking certain prudent measures, that had now become necessary, and that would require a fresh exertion of their strength. These measures were the recovery of the empty casks which William had detached from the Catamaran ; and for the want of which that improvised craft not only lay much lower in the water than when they had left her, but was altogether a less seaworthy structure. The sailor's chest, for which its owner now felt in- creased affection, was the first thing secured ; and next the cask upon which Snowball had bestraddled himself to get a better view. Both were near, and easily reached by a httle rowing. The other three casks had drifted to a considerable dis- tance to leeward, and were still continuing their course ; but as all three were in sight, the crew of the Catamaran an- ticipated no great difficulty in overtaking them. Nor did any occur. A pair of oars handled by the sailor and sea-cook, with the sailor-boy standing up to direct the course in which they should pull, soon brought the raft down upon the straying hogsheads ; and they were picked up one after the other, the severed ropes respliced, and all of them set back in their old positions, so that but for the wet gar- ments clinging around the bodies of those who had been overboard, and perhaps the pale and wearied expression upon their countenances, no one could have told that any- thing had gone wrong on board the Catamaran. REFITTING THE BAFT. 151 As to their wet clothes, none of them cared much foi lhat ; and if there had been any discomfort in it, it was not likely to continue long under the hot sun then shining down upon them. So rapidly was this part of the damage becom- ing repaired that all three, but more especially Snowball. were now surrounded by a cloud of evaporation thai would soon dry every stitch of clothing they had on. The negro, partly from the natural heat proceeding from his own body, and partly from the strong sunbeams, was smoking like a fresh kindled pit of charcoal : so that, through the strata of steam that encompassed his head and shoulders, it would have been impossible to tell whether he was black or white. In the midst of this Juno-like nimbus however, the negro continued to talk and act, helping the sailor and little William, until not only were the water-casks restored to their proper places, but the sail was hauled up to the mast, and the Catamaran once more scudding before the breeze, as if not the slightest accident had occurred either to craft or crew. Care was taken, however, this time to make fast the halliard rope with a proper " belay " ; and although Snow- ball might have deserved a caution to be more vigilant for the future, it was not deemed necessary to administer it, as it was thought the peril out of which they had so miraculously escaped would prove to him a sufficient reminder. There was but one misfortune arising out of the adven- ture that might have caused the crew of the Catamaran any serious regret. This was the loss of a large portion of their stock of provisions, consisting of the dried fish, partly those that had been half cured by Snowball previous to the union of the two rafts, and partly the flitches of shark-meat, that had been taken from the lesser raft, and added to Snow- ball's store. These, with the object of having them thoroughly dried, had been exposed to the" sun, on the tops of the water-caski 152 THE OCEAN WAIFS. which little William had let loose. In the hurry and ex citement of the moment, it was not likely the lad should give a thought to the flitches of fish. Nor did he ; and while freeing the water-casks from their fastenings, and pushing them off from the raft, the pieces were all permitted to slide off into the water, and either swim or go to the bottom, as their specific gravity might dictate. The conse- quence was, that, when everything else was recovered, these were lost, having actually gone to the bottom, or floated out of sight ; or, what was more probable than either, hav- ing been picked up by the numerous predatory birds hover- ing in the heavens above, or the equally voracious fish quar- tering the depths of the ocean underneath. It was not without some chagrin that Snowball contem- plated his reduced stores, a chagrin in which his compan- ions could equally participate. At the time, however, they felt the misfortune less bitterly than they might otherwise have done, their spirits being buoyed up by the miracu- lous escape they had just made, as well as by a hope that the larder so spent might be replenished, and by a process similar to that by which it had been originally stocked. CHAPTER XLIV. THE ALBACORES. f 1HE hope of replenishing their larder was likely to b -1 realized easily, and erelong. Scarce had their sail caught the breeze, when they per- ceived alongside the Catamaran a shoal of the most beauti- fol flsh that are *o be found in any part of the boundless ocean. There were several hundreds in the shoal ; like THE ALBACORES. 153 mackerel, all nearly of one size, and swimming, moreover in the same direction, just as a school of mackerel are seen to do. They were much larger, however, than the common mackerel, each being about four feet in length, with a stout, though well-proportioned body, having that peculiar elegance of shape which belongs to all the mackerel tribe. Their color was sufficient of itself to entitle them to the appellation of beautiful creatures. It was a bright turquoise blue or azure, showing, in certain lights, a tinge of gold. This was the color of their backs ; while undernea h thej were of a silvery white, gleaming with a lively iridescence A row of spurious fins above the tail, and another under- neath, were of a bright yellow; while their large rouna eyes exhibited an iris of silver. Their pectoral fins were very long and sickle-shaped; while the dorsal one, also well developed, presented a struc- tural peculiarity in having a deep groove running longitudi- nally down the spine of the back, into which the fin, when at rest and depressed, exactly fitted : becoming so completely sheathed and concealed, as to give to the fish the appearance of being without this apparatus altogether ! If we except their lovely hues, their greater size, and a few other less notable circumstances, the fishes in question might have been taken for mackerel ; and it would have been no great mistake to so describe them : since they were in reality of this genus. They were of a different species, however, the most beautiful species of the mackerel tribe. " A" Ibacore ! " cried Ben Brace, as soon as he saw them shooting alongside the raft. " Albacore be they. Now, Snowy, out wi' your hooks an' lines. In this fresh breeze they be a'most sure to bite ; and we '11 be able, I hope, to make up for the loss o' the others. Hush all o' ye ! Ne'er a word; ne'er a movement to scare 'em off. Softly, Snowy J softly, ye ole sea-cook ' 154 THE OCEAN WAIFS " No fear, Massa Brace, no fear o' dem leabin dis ole Catamaran, so long 's de be a gwine on dat fashion. Looke Jar ! Fuss to one side, den de todder, back and for'rad as ef de cud n't be content nowha." While Snowball was speaking, and before be had com menced, the albacores had entered upon a peculiar move- ment. On first joining company with the Catamaran, they swam for a time alongside, the starboard side, keeping pace with the raft, and evidently making no exertion to go ahead of her, as they might easily have done. On the con- trary, they scarce moved their fins ; but floated slowly along at the exact rate of speed at which the craft was sailing, and not one bit faster. As they swam parallel to the raft, and also parallel to each other, one might have fancied them all joined together by some invisible link, that kept them from changing their relative positions both to the Catamaran and to one another ! All at once, however, and quick as the change of a kalei- doscope, this parallelism was terminated, not as regarded each other, but with respect to the course of the Catamaran, By a single flutter of their tails, the whole school was seen simultaneously turning head towards the craft ; and then, like a flash of lightning, they passed underneath. For a moment they were out of sight ; but in the next they appeared on the starboard beam, swimming parallel as before, both to the course of the Catamaran and to each other. The manoeuvre was executed with such precision and uniformity, as could not be imitated among men, even under the tuition of the ablest drill-sergeant that ever ex- isted. They swerved from right to left, as if each and all were actuated by the same impulse, and at the same instant of time. At the same instant their tails made a movement in the water, at precisely the same point of time they turned together, showing a list of its silvery abdomen, and with like simultaneous action did they dive under th keel of the Catamaran. THE ALBACORES. 15* It was this peculiar manoeuvre on the part of the fish, won after repeated by their shooting back to the starboard, and again returning to larboard, that had elicited from Snowball the assertion, so confidently put forward, that there was no fear of their leaving the Catamaran, so long as they were going in that fashion. Of those upon the raft, Ben Brace alone comprehended Snowball's meaning. To little William it was a matter of some surprise when the ex-sea-cook spoke so confidently, and acted, moreover, as if he had no fear of frightening the shy- looking creatures that were swimming alongside. " Why, Snowy ? " asked the lad, " why is there no fear of their being scared off ? " " Kase, lilly Willy, I hab de idea dar be something else, not far off, dat dem albacore am more feerd on dan we. I no see dat someting yet. We sure see de long snout, by 'm by." u The long snout ! what do you mean by that, Snowy ? " " Wha do a mean ? de long nose a mean. Tole ye so ! dar he be yonner, right on de la'bord qnater. Dis nigger knew he no far off. Da 's why de beauties hab come roun de raff; an dat I hope keep um hyar till we hab cotch n few ob dem I " " A shark ! " cried the boy sailor, catching a glance of some large fish at some distance out in the water on the lar- board bow, the direction in which Snowball had pointed. " Shark ! nuffin ob de kind," rejoined the negro ; " diff 'rent sort ob fish altogedder. If him wa shark, de albacore no stay hyar. Dey go up to him, and dart all 'bout im, jess like de lilly birds when dey see big hawk or de vulture. No shark he, dat ere skulkin' fella. He am massa iong nose, de real enemy ob de albacore. No fear ob dem leabin' us, while he an/whar in sight." Saying this the Coromantee proceeded to single out hii 156 THE OCEAN WAIFS. hooks ; and, assisted by Ben Brace, commenced baiting them with an unconcern that testified a full confidence in th truth of his assertion. CHAPTER XLV. THE SWORD-FISH. T ITTLE William, whose curiosity had become ex- JLj cited at the appearance of the strange fish, stood looking over the larboard quarter, in hopes of getting a better view of it. As yet, he had only obtained a slight glimpse of it : for the larboard quarter lay towards the southwest, and the sun, just then sinking down upon the sea, hindered him from having a fair opportunity to scan the surface in that par- ticular direction. Shading his eyes with the palm of his hand, he gazed for some time, but saw nothing, either upon the surface or under it. Snowball, notwithstanding that he seemed wholly occupied with the hooks and lines, took notice of the recon- noissance of the sailor lad. " No use you look dat way, lilly Willy," said he. " Doan you see dat de abbacores are now on de larbord side. Wheneber dey am on de larbord, you look for long nose on de etarbord. Truss dem take care dey no get on de same side wit' dat ere fella." " There, Will'm ! " interposed Ben. " Look out that way ! there he be, right astarn, don't ye see ? " " I see, I see ! " cried William. " 0, look, Lalee ! What fcn odd fish it is ! I never saw one like it before." This \ras true ; for although the young sailer had already THE SWORD-FISH. 167 trf ersed uuny A lotig league of the Atlantic Ocean, he had not yet seen a fish ot the same kind ; and he might traverse hundreds of long leagues of any of the oceans without see- ing the like again. It was, in truth, one of the most singular denizens of tha great deep that had thus come under the observation of the Catamarans crew, so peculiar in its appearance that, without the intervention of Ben Brace, who at that moment called out iU name, the boy could have pronounced it for himself. It was a fijh of some eight or ten feet in length ; with a long bony snout, projecting horizontally forward, at least one third of the length of its body. This snout was noth- ing more than a prolongation of the upper jaw, perfectly straight, of osseous structure, and tapering towards the end like the blade of a rapier. Otherwise the fish was not ill-formed ; nor did it present that hideous aspect characteristic of the more predatory creatures that inhabit the ocean. For all that, there was a certain shyness combined with great swiftness in its motion, a skulking in its attitudes : as Snowball's speech had already declared, a truculent, trap-like expression in its quick watchful eyes, that told of an animal whose whole existence was passed in the pursuit of prey. It was not to be wondered at that William should have mistaken the creature for a shark : for, in addition to the fact of the sun being in his eyes, there were points of simi- larity between the fish in question, and certain species of sharks, requiring a good view and an experienced observer to tell the difference. William perceived a large crescent, shaped fin rising several inches above the surface of the water, a tail lunated like that of the shark, a hungry eye, and prowling attitude : the very characteristics of the dreaded tyrant of the deep. There was one thirg in which the creature in questioj 158 THE OCEAN WAIFS. differed materially from all the individuals of the syualut tribe. Instead of swimming slowly, it appeared to be one of the swiftest of fishes : for at each instant as the albacores changed their position from one side of the raft to the other, the long-snouted creature was seen to shoot to the same side with a velocity that almost baffled the sight to keep pace with it. In fact, the eye could scarcely have traced its course, had it not been aided by two circumstances altogether strange and peculiar. The first was that the strange fish, while darting from point to point, caused a rushing sound in the water ; like that produced by heavy rain falling upon the leaves of a forest. The second peculiarity was, that while thus progressing its hues became completely changed. In- stead of the dull brown, its color when at rest, its body presented a striated appearance, a brindling of bright and dark blue, sometimes heightened to a uniform azure ! It was not these peculiarities that had guided little William to the identification of the species ; but the long, tapering snout, straight as a rapier, that projected in front of its body. This was a token not to be mistaken, never to be forgotten by one who had seen it before. And the young sailor had before seen such a one; not at sea, nor under the sea, but in a collection of " natural curiosities," that had by chance been carried though his native town; and whose inspection, per- haps, had much to do with that impulse that first caused him to " run away to sea." Under a glass-case he had examined that piece of osseous structure, described by the showman as the sword of the sword-fish. Under the waves of the tropical Atlantic, but little less translucent than the glass, he had no difficulty in identifying the formidable weapon ! THE SWORDSMAN OF THE SEA. If 9 CHAPTER XLVI. THE SWORDSMAN OF THE SEA. WHILE William was gazing upon the strange fish, it was seen all at once to make a rush in the direction of the raft. They could hear a "swishing" sound, as its huge body passed through the water, at the same time that its great scimetar-shaped dorsal fin, projecting above the surface, rapidly traced a rippling line through the whole of its course. The dash was evidently directed against the shoal of alba- core swimming alongside the Catamaran. But these creatures were constantly on the alert. Although exhibiting every symptom of fright, they did not seem for an instant to lose their presence of mind ; and as the sword- fish was seen rushing towards them, all turned as if by a common impulse, and, quick as lightning, passed to the other side of the raft. The sword-fish, seeing himself foiled, checked the velocity of his charge with a suddenness that displayed his great natatory powers; and, instead of pursuing the albacores under the Catamaran, he continued to follow after the craft, in a sort of skulking, cowardly fashion, as if he designed to use stratagem rather than strength in the capture of his prey. It soon became evident to little William that the albacores had sought the companionship of the Catamaran less from the idea of obtaining any droppings there might be from her decks, than as a protection against their formidable pursuer, the sword-fish. Indeed, this is most probably the reason why not only the albacores and their kindred the bonitos, but several other kinds of shoal-fish, attach themselves t ships, whales, and other large objecfcs, that they maj en- counter floating or saving upon the opon ocean* 160 THE OCEAN WAIFS. The mode in which the sword-fish makes his attack, by rushing irresistibly upon his prey, and impaling it on his long, slender beak, is full of risk to himself; for shonld his " sword " come in contact with the sides of a ship, or any substance of sufficient strength to withstand his impetu- ous "thrust," the chances are that the weapon either gets broken off altogether, or so embedded that the owner of it falls a victim to his rash voracity. Under the excitement of fear, and occupied in watching the movements of their enemy, Snowball knew there was no chance of the albacores paying any attention to the hooks he had baited for them. Instead, therefore, of throwing them over the side, he permitted them to lie upon the planks, and waited until the sword-fish should either take his de- parture or fall far enough into the wake of the Catamaran to permit, on the part of the creatures swimming alongside, a temporary forgetfulness of his presence. " It am no use trowin' dem de hook," said he, addressing himself to the sailor, " no use jess yet, so long de sharp snout am dar. We mus' wait till he go out ob dar sight an out ob dar hearin too." " I suppose we must," rejoined Ben ; " that be a pity too. They 'd bite greedy enough, if the ugly thing warn't there. That I know, for I Ve seed em many 's the time." This was not the only bit of information concerning the albacore and their enemy communicated by the sailor to his companions on the raft, but more especially to his protege, who, feeling a strange interest in those creatures, had asked several questions concerning them. During the interval, while they were waiting for some change in the tactics of the pursuer, hoping that he might get ahead and abandon the pursuit, lien imparted to his audience several chap tore of his experience, in which either albacore or sword- fish, and sometimes both, had figured as the principal actors Among othr rs, ho related tvn anecdote of a ship in which THE SWORDSMAN OF THE SEA. 161 he had sailed having been pierced by the beak of a aword- fish. At the time the incident occurred there was no one on board who had any suspicion of its nature. The crew were below at their dinner ; when one of the sailort who chanced to be on deck heard a loud splashing in the water. On looking over the ship's side, and seeing a large body just sinking below the surface, the sailor supposed it to be some one of the crew who had gone over, and instantly raised the cry of " A man overboard ! " The crew were paraded ; when it was ascertained that no one was missing. Though the sailors were at a loss to ac- count for the singular appearance, the alarm soon subsided ; and nothing more was thought of the matter. Shortly after, one of the men, Ben Brace himself, it was, chanced to ascend the rigging ; and while aloft he perceived a rugged mass projecting from the side of the ship, just below the water line. On a boat being lowered and the thing exam- ined, it proved to be the rostrum of a sword-fish, broken off from the animal's head. It was the body of the animal, no doubt, killed by the concussion, which the sailor had seen sinking in the water. The " sword " had pierced completely through the copper sheathing and solid timbers of the larboard bow of the ship ; and on the sailors going below, they found eight or ten inches of its top projecting into the inside, embedded among some coals contained in the hold ! Singular as the sailor's story might appear, it was not in the least an exaggeration. Snowball knew it was not : for the ex-sea-cook could have told of like experiences; and William was also satisfied of its truth, from having read the account of a similar incident, and heard that the evidences of it, that is, a piece of the solid wood of the ship's tim bers, with the sword imbedded in it, were to be seen al any time in the British -Museum. 162 THE OCEAN WAIFS. Just as Ben had finished his curious relation, a movement Opon the part of the pursuer told an intention of changing his tactics, not as if he was about to retreat, but rather to assume a bolder attitude of offence. The sight of such a fine shoal of fat albacores, so near and yet so long keep- ing clear of his attack, appeared to have tantalized him to a point beyond endurance ; and, being extra hungry, perhaps he was determined to dine upon them, coute qui coute. With this intent he drew nearer to the Catamaran, swooping from quarter to quarter, then along the sides, and once or twice darting ahead, so as to create in the shoal a degree of excitement that might force them into irregularity of action. This very effect he at length succeeded in producing ; for the pretty creatures became more frightened than ever ; and instead of swimming, as hitherto, in concert, and parallel to each other as they had been doing, they got huddled into a crowd, and commenced darting, pell-mell, in every direction. In the midst of their confusion a large band became sepa- rated, not only from the others, but from the Catamaran, and fell several fathoms' length into the wake of the craft. Upon these the hungry eyes of the prowling monster were now fixed ; but only for a moment : for in the next he was charging down among them with a velocity that caused the water to spray upwards against his dorsal fin, while the rushing sound made by bis body could be heard afar 'off over the ocean. "Look, Will'ml" cried Ben, anxious that his protege should not miss seeing the curious spectacle. " Look, lad ! yonder 's a sight worth seein'. Shiver my timbers, if he han't got a brace o' 'em on his toastin' fork ! " While Ben was speaking, the sword-fish had charged inw the middle of the frightened flock. There was a momen- tary plashing, as several of the albacores leaped jp out ANGLING FOR ALBACORE. 163 of the water and fell back again, there was a surging and bubbling over a few yards of surface, whkh hindered a clearer view of what was passing; and then outside reap- peared the sword-fish, with his long weapon projected above the water, and a brace of the beautiful albacores impale^ upon its point! The wretched creatures were struggling to free them- selves from their painful position ; but their struggles were not for long. They were terminated almost on the instant, by the sword-fish giving a quick jerk of his head, and tossing, first one and then the other of his victims high into the air! As they came down again, it was to fall, not upon the water, but into the throat of the voracious tyrant; who, although toothless and without any means of masticating, made shorter work of it by introducing them untoothed, and at a single gulp, into his capacious maw ! CHAPTER XLVI1. ANGLING FOB ALBACORE. FOR a while the crew of the Catamaran watched the manoeuvres of the sword-fish with a degree of interest that almost caused them to forget their own forlorn situation. Little William and Lilly Lalee were especially delighted with the singular spectacle ; and long after the sailor and Snowball had turned their attention to other and more neces- sary matters, the two stood side by side gazing out upon the ocean in the direction in which the sea-swordsman had been een. We say had been seen : for, after swallowing the bi aoe of 164 THE OCEAN WAIFS. albacores, the voracious monster had suddenly disappeared, either by diving deep down into the sea, or shooting off t some distant point. Little William and Lalee looked everywhere, first astern, where the swordsman had made the display of his skill ; then on both sides ; and, finally, ahead. They looked in these different directions, because, from what they had already seen of its natative powers, they knew that the great fish could pass in a few seconds through a hundred fathoms of water, and therefore was as likely to be on one sic 1 * aa the other. On no side, however, could the fish be seen ; ai*J, al- though both the sailor lad and Lalee would have been pleased to witness a little more of that same sword exercise, they were at length forced to the conclusion that the per- formance was over and the performer gone away, perhaps, to exhibit his prowess in some other quarter of the aquatic world. " Berry like, berry like he gone way," said Snowball, in reply to the interrogatory of little William. " A good ting if dat am de fack ; fo' den we hab chance to hook up some o' dese hya abbacore. See dem now ! Doan' you see how berry different dey are behavin'. Dey no longer 'feerd. Dat am sign dat de long snout hab turn him nose in some oder direckshun. He gone fo' sartin." Sure enough the behavior of the 1 albacores was very much altered, as Snowball had affirmed. Instead of flashing about from one side of the raft to the other, and exhibiting manifest symptoms of alarm, they now swam placidly along- side, at a regular rate of speed, just keeping up with the Catamaran. They looked, moreover, as if they would now take the bait, which during the presence of the sword-fish they had obstinately refused to touch, though frequently flung, both b? Snowball and the sailor, right under their snouts. ANGLING FOR ALBACORE. 165 Both were again preparing to repeat their angling opera- .dons ; and in a few seconds' time each had his hock ready, with a piece of shark-meat temptingly attached to it, the bait being rendered still more attractive from having a little shred of scarlet flannel looped around the shank of the hook, while several fathoms of stout sennit-cord served aa trolling-lines. Plash into the water went the two baited hooks, both at once ; and, almost before the ripples caused by the plunge had ceased to circle upon the surface, a still louder plashing could be heard, and a much rougher ripple seen, in short, a large space of the surface agitated into foam, where a brace of albacores were fluking and struggling on the re- spective hooks of Snowball and the sailor. Right rapidly were they hauled aboard, and their strug- gles brought to a termination by a smart tap on the head administered to each in succession, by a handspike, which had suddenly found its way into the grasp of the sailor. No time was thrown away in contemplating the captives, or triumphing over their capture. Little William and La- lee alone examined the two beautiful creatures thus brought within their reach ; while Snowball and the sailor, rapidly readjusting the baits upon their hooks, that had been slightly disarranged by the teeth of the tunnies, for the albacore is a species of tunny fish, once more flung them forth. This time the baits were not so greedily " grabbed " at As if the " school " had become suspicious, they all for a considerable time fought ehy of it ; but, as it was trolled so temptingly under their very snouts, first one and then an- other began to make approach, now nearer and nearer, one or two taking a nibble at it, and then dropping it again, and suddenly shying off, as if they had discovered some- thing unj \easant either in its taste or touch. This delicate nibbling continued for several ncinutes , when, at length, an albacore more courageous than ts com 166 THE OCEAN WAIFS. panions, or perhaps with an emptier stomach than the rest, at sight of the tempting morsel suddenly took leave of his discretion ; and, darting forward, seized the bait upon Ben's hook, swallowing bait, hook, and several inches of the sennit- cord, at a single gulp ! There was no danger of its being able to detach itself from that hook. The barb was already fast in its entrails before Ben gave the jerk to secure it. Another jerk brought Ihe fish out of its native element, landing it amidships on board the Catamaran, where, like its two predecessors, it was instantly knocked on the head. Snowball continued to "troll" his line in the most ap- proved fashion ; and was soon again joined by his brother " piscator," who, after settling the scores with the second fish he had caught, had adjusted a fresh bait, and once more flung his line into the water. For some reason or other, the albacores became suddenly shy, not as if alarmed at the action of the anglers, but rather from having their attention attracted to some other object invisible to the eyes of those on the Catamaran. The fish were so near the raft, that every movement made by them could be easily observed, even to the glancing of their silvery irides, and those who observed them could see that they were looking aloft. Up went the eyes of the Catamarans, both anglers and idlers turning their glances towards the sky. There wag nothing to be seen there, at least, nothing to account for the shyness of the fish, or the upward cast of their eyeballs. So thought three of the party, little William, Lalee, and the sailor, who beheld only the blue, cloudless canopy of the heavens. Snowball, however, whose single experience of ocean life was greater than the sum total of the other three twice told, did not, like the rest, desist all :U oncn from his scrutiny of the sky, but remained gazing with upturned look for a period of several minutes. ANGLING FOR ALBACORE. 167 At the termination of that time, an exclamatory phrase, escaping from his lips, proclaimed the discovery of some ob- ject that, to his mind, accounted for the odd behavior of the albacores. " De frigate-bird ! " was the phrase that came mutteringly from between Snowball's teeth. " Ya, ya, dar am two ob dem, de cock an' hen, I s'pose. Dat 'counts for de scari- ness of dese kya fish. Dat 's what am doin' it." " 0, a frigate-bird ! " said Ben Brace, recognizing in Snow- ball's synonyme one of the most noted wanderers of the ocean, the Pelicanus aquila of the naturalists, but which, from its swift flight and graceful form, is better known to mariners under the appellation given to it by Snowball. " Where away ? " interrogated the sailor. " I don't see bird o' any sort. Where away, Snowy ? " " Up yonner, nearly straight ober head, close by dat lilly 'peck ob cloud. Dar dey be, one on de one side, odder on t'odder, de ole cock an' de ole hen, I'se be boun' ! " " Your daylights be uncommon clear, nigger. I don't see ne'er a bird Ah, now I do ! two of 'em, as you say. Ye 're right, Snowy. Them be frigates to a sartainty. It 's easy to tell the cut o' thar wings from any other bird as flops over the sea. Beside, there be no other I knows on as goes up to that height. Cousiderin' that thar wings be spread nigh a dozen feet, if not all o' that, and that they don't look bigger than barn-swallows, I reckon they must be mor 'n a mile overhead o' us. Don't you think so, Snowy ? " " Mile, Massa Brace ! Ya, dey am two mile 'bove us at de berry lees. Dey doan' 'peer to move an inch from dat same spot. Dar be no doubt dat boaf o' em am sounl 'sleep. " Asleep ! " echoed little William, in a tone that betokened a large measure of astonishment. " You don't say, Snow- ball, that a bird can go to sleep upon the wing ? " " Whoo ! lilly Willy, dat all you know 'bcut de birls ii 168 THE OGKAX WAIFS. dis hya part ol do wor]' ? Sleep on de wing! Sartiii dey go 'sleep on de wing, an' some time wif de wing fold close to dar body, an' de head tuck under 'im, don't dey, Mass? Brace ? " " I ain't sartin as to that," doubtingly answered the ex- man-o'-war's-man. " I 've heerd so : but it do seem sort c unnat'ral." " Whoo ! " rejoined Snowball, with a slightly derisive in- clination of the head ; " why for no seem nat'ral ? De frigate hersef she sleep on de water widout sails set, not eben a fetitch ob her canvas. Well, den : why no dem frigate-birds in de air ? What de water am to de ship de air am to de birds. What hinder 'em to take dar nap up yonner, 'ceptiu' when dar 's a gale ob wind ? Ob coos dat u'd interrup' dar repose." " Well, nigger," rejoined the sailor, in a tone that betokened no very zealous partisanship for either side of the theory, " you may be right, or you may be wrong. I ar' n't goin' to gi'e you the lie, one way or t' other. All I know is, that I 've seed frigates a-standing in the air, as them be now, making way neyther to windart or leuwart; f'r all that I didn't balieve they was asleep. I kud see thar forked tails openin' and closin' jist like the blades o' a pair o' shears ; and that inclined me to think they war wide awake all the time. If they was asleep, how kud they a-kep waggin' thar tails? Though a bird's tail be but feathers, still it must ha' some feelin' in it." " Law, Massa Ben ! " retorted the negro, in a still more patronizing tone, as if pitying the poverty of the sailor's syllogism, " you no tink it possible that one move in dar sleep ? You nebber move you big toe, or you foot, or some- time de whole ob you leg ? Beside," continued the logician, passing to a fresh point of his argument, " how you s'pose de frigate-bird do 'idout sleep ? You know berry well he not got de power to swim, him feet only half web. He no ANGLING FOR ALBACORE. 169 more sit on de water dan a guinea -fo.vl, or a ole hen ob de dunghill. As foi* him go 'sleep on de sea, it no more possyble dan for you or me, Massa Ben." " Well, Snowy," slowly responded the sailor, rather pushed for a reply, " I 'm willin' to acknowledge all that. It look like the truth, an' k don't, both at the same time. I can't understan' how a bird can go to sleep up in the air, no more 'n I could hang my old tarpaulin' hat on the corner o' & cloud. Same time I acknowledge that I 'm puzzled to make out how them thar frigates can take thar rest. The only explanation I can think o' is, that every night they fly back to the shore, an' turns in thar." . " Whoogh ! Massa Brace, you knows better dan dat. I 'se heerd say dat de frigate-bird nebber am seed more 'n a hunder league from de shore. Dam ! Dis nigga hab seed dat same ole cock five time dat distance from land, in de middle ob de wide Atlantic, whar we sees 'um now. Wish it was true he nebber 'tray more dan hunder knots from de land ; we might hab some chance reach it den. Hunde: league ! Golly ! more 'n twice dat length we am from land ; and dere 's dem long-wing birds hov'rin' 'bove our heads, an sleepin' as tranquil as ebber dis nigga did in de caboose ot de ole Pandora" Ben made no reply. Whether the reasoning of the Coro- mantee was correct or only sophistical, the facts were the same. Two forms were in the sky, outlined against the back- ground of cerulean blue. Though distant, and apparently motionless, they were easily distinguishable as living things as birds, and of a kind so peculiar, that the eye of the rude African, and even that of the almost equally rule Sax- on, could distinguish the species. 170 THE OCEAN WAIFS. CHAPTER XLVIII. THE FRIGATE-BIRD. fT^IHE frigate-bird (Pelicanus aquila), which had thus be- 1 come the subject of conversation on board the Calami* ran, is in many respects very different from other ocean birds. Although generally classed with the pelicans, it bears but a very slight resemblance to any species of these misshapen, unwieldy, goose-like creatures. It differs from most other birds frequenting the sea in the fact of its feet being but slightly webbed, and its claws be- ing talons, like those of hawks or eagles. Otherwise, also, does it resemble these last birdt, so much that the sailors, noting the resemblance, indifferently call it " sea-hawk," " man-of-war hawk," and " man-of-war eagle." The last appellation, however, is sometimes given to the great wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans). The male frigate-bird is jet black all over the body ; hav- ing a red bill, very long, vertically flattened, and with the mandibles abruptly hooked downwards at the point. The female differs in color : being sooty black above, and having a large white disc on the abdomen. The legs are short in proportion to the bulk of the bird ; the toes, as already stated, being furnished with talons, the middle one scaly, and notched underneath ; while the lega are feathered to the feet, showing another point of affin- ity with predatory birds of the land. Still another may be pointed out : in the innermost toe or pottex, being turned out- wards, as if intended for perching, which the frigate-bird actually does when it visits the shore, often making its nest upon trees, and roosting among the branches. In fact, this creature may be regarded as a sort of con- necting link between the birds of prey who make their horn* THE FRIGATE-BIRD. 171 en the dry laud, and the web-footed birds that equally lead a predatory life upon the sea. Perhaps it continues the chain begun by the ospreys and sea-eagles, who take most of their food out of the water, but do not stray far from the shore in search of it. The frigate-bird, a true sea-hawk, sea-eagle, it may be called, since its bold, noble qualities entitle it to the name, makes its excursions so far from the shore that it is not unfrequently seen in the very middle of the Atlantic. Now, this is the most curious circumstance in its history, and one that has hitherto perplexed ornithologists. Since its feet are not provided with the " web," it cannot swim a stroke ; nor has it ever been seen to alight on the water for the purpose of taking rest. It is not likely that it can settle on the wave, the conformation of its feet and body making this an impossibility. How, then, does it find rest for its tired wings? This is the question to which an answer is not easily given. There is a belief, as Ben alleged, that it returns every night to roost upon the land ; but when it is considered that to reach its roost would often require a flight of a thousand miles, to say nothing of the return journey to its fishing- ground, the statement at once loses all vraisemblance. Many sailors say that it goes to sleep suspended aloft in the air, and so high up as to be sometimes invisible. This was the belief of Snowball. Now, this belief, or conjecture, or whatever you may term it, on the part of Jack tar, though sneered at as impos- sible, and even scoffed at as ridiculous, may, after all, not be so very far beyond the truth. Jack has told some rare tales in his time, " yarns " that appear to be " spun " out of his fancy, quite as much as this one, which, after har ig run the gauntlet of philosophic ridicule on the part of closet naturalists, have in the long run turned out to be true I Has not his story of the "King of the Cannibal Islands," 172 THE OCEAN WAIFS. Hokee-pokee-winkee-wum, with his fifty wives as black ai " sut," and all his belongings, just as Jack described them, actually " turned up " iu reality, in the person of ThaK- ombau ard a long line of similar monsters inhabiting the Fiji Islands ? Why, then, may not his statements, about the frigate- bird going to sleep upon the wing be a correct conjecture, 01 observation, instead of a " sailor's yarn," as sage and con- ceited, but often mistaken, professors of " physical science " would have us regard it? Such professors as are at this moment, in almost every newspaper in the country, sci- sntific journals among the number, abusing and ridiculing the poor farmer for destroying the birds that destroy his grain ; and telling him, if he were to let the birds alone, they would eat the insects that commit far greater devasta- tion on his precious cerealia ! Conceited theorists ! it has never occurred to them, that the victims of the farmer's fowling-piece the birds that eat corn would not touch an insect if they were starving ! The farmer does not make war on the insect-eating birds. Rarely, or never, does he expend powder and shot on the swallow, the wagtail, the tomtit, the starling, the thrush, the blackbird, the wren, the robin, or any of the grub and fly-feeders. His " game " are the buntings and Fringillida, the larks, linnets, finches, barley -birds, yellowhammers, and house sparrows, that form the great flocks afflicting him both in seed-time and harvest ; and none of which (excepting, perhaps, the last-mentioned gentry, who are at times slightly inclined towards a wormy diet) would touch an insect, even with the tips of their bills. Ha ! ye scribblers of closet conceits ! you have been sneer- ing at " Chaw-bacon " long enough. He may turn and scoff at you ; for, in very truth, the boot (of ignorance) is upon the other leg ! Let us make sure then, lest Jack's theory regarding th lumbers of the sea-hawk be not mythical in the mirror of our own incredulity. THE FRIGATE-BIRD. 17$ That tb.e bird can take rest in the air is perfectly certain. It may be seen as the crew of the Catamaran saw it suspended on outspread wing, without any perceptible mo- tion except in its tail ; the long, forked feathers of which could be observed opening and closing at intervals ; accord- ing to the sailor's simile, like the blades of a pair of scissors. But this motion might be merely muscular, and compatible with a state of slumber or unconscious repose. At all events, the bird has been seen to keep its place in the air for many minutes at a time, with no other motion observ- able than that of the long and gracefully-forking feathers of its tail. A fish sleeps suspended in the water without any appar- ent effort. Why not certain birds in the air, whose body is many times lighter than that of a fish, and whose skele- ton is constructed with air vessels to buoy them up into the azure fields of the sky ? The sea-hawk may seldom require what is ordinarily termed rest. Its smooth, graceful flight upon wings, which, though slender, are of immense length, often of ten feet spread, shows that it is, perhaps, as much at ease in the air as if perched upon the bough of a tree ; and it is certain that its claws never clasp branch, nor do its feet find rest on any other object, for weeks and months together. It is true that while fishing near the shore it usually retires to roost at night ; but afar over the ocean it keeps all night upon the wing. It does not, like many other ocean birds, as the booby, one of its own genus, seek rest upon the spars of ships, though it often hovers above the mastheads of sailing vessels, as if taking delight in this situation, and not unfrequently seizes in its beak, and tear- ing away the pieces of colored cloth fixed upon the ume. A curious anecdote is told of a frigate-bird taken while thus occupied, its captor being a man who had swarmed op to the masthead am* seized it in his hand. As this indi- 174 THE OCEAN WAIFS. vldual chanced to be a landsman, serving temporally on board the ship, and being remarkably tall and slender, the crew of the vessel would never have it otherwise, than thai the bird, accustomed only to the figure of a sailor, had mis- taken its captor for a spare spar, and thus fallen a victim to its want of discernment ! Strictly speaking, the frigate-bird does not jish, like other predatory birds of the ocean. As it cannot either dive or swim, of course it cannot take fish out of the water. How, then, does it exist ? Where finds it the food necessary to sustain existence ? In a wor'd, it captures its prey in the air ; and this commonly consists in (he various species of fly- ing-fish, and also the loligo, or " flying squids." When these are forced out of their own proper element to seek safety in the air, the frigate-bird, ready to pounce down from aloft, clutches them before they can get back into the equally un- safe element out of which they have sprung. Besides the flying-fish, it preys upon those that have the habit of leaping above the surface, and also others that have been already captured by boobies, terns, gulls, and tropic birds, all of which can both swim and dive. These the frigate-bird remorselessly robs of their legiti- mate prize, first compelling them to relinquish it in the air, and then adroitly seizing it before it gets back to the water. The storm is the season of plenty to this singular bird of prey ; as then it can capture many kinds of fish upon the surface of the waves. It is during those times when the sea is tranquil or perfectly calm, that it resorts to the other method, of forcing the fishing-birds to yield up their prey, often even to disgorge, after having swallowed it ! Its wondrous powers of flight not only enable it to seise with certainty the morsel thus rejected, but go confident is it of its ability in the performance of this feat, that, if a fish chance to be awkwardly caught in its beak, it will fearlessly BETWEEN TWO TYRANTS. 175 fling it into the air, and, darting after, grasp it again and again, until it gets the mouthful in a convenient position foi being gulped down its own greedy throat. CHAPTER XLIX. BETWEEN TWO TYRANTS. rriHE two birds which had attracted the attention of the 1 Catamaran's crew were seen suddenly to abandon theii fixed poise in the air, and commence wheeling in circles, or rather in spiral lines that gradually descended towards the surface of the sea. In a short while they were so low that the scarlet pouch under the throat of the male was easily recognizable, swollen out like a goitre ; while the elegant conformation of the birds, with their long, cimeter-shaped wings, and slender forked tails, was sharply defined against the blue background of the sky. The albacores no longer took any notice of the baited hooks ; but, instead, commenced darting through the water in various directions, until they had got scattered about over the sea. "Was it fear of the predatory birds hovering above that was producing this change in their tactics ? It could not be that. They did not appear to be acting under any alarm ; but rather as if prowling in search of something not yet visible either to them or to those who were watching them from the deck of the Catamaran. Ben Brace and Snowball knew the fish were not fright- ened by the presence of the birds; but William, whose experience of sea-life was more limited, although the 176 THE OCEAN WAIFS. albacores did not look alarmed, thought, doubtingly, th they were so. "Surely," said he, appealing to his older companions, " such big fish need n't be scared of them ? " As he put the interrogatory, he pointed upward to the two birds, now within a hundred fathoms of the surface. "Surely they can't kill an albacore? If they did, they could never swallow it, I should think ? " u 'T ain't the albacore they be after," replied Ben Brace, "nor be the albacore afeerd o' them, not a bit. There be another sort o' fishes not far away, though we can't see 'em. No more do these sky-blue chaps as be swimming around us. They be now lookin' for 'em, mighty sharp, as ye see ; an' they '11 be sartin to scare 'em up in three shakes o' a shark's tail." " What other sort of fish?" inquired William. " Flyin'-fish, lad ; same 's you an' I made our first meal on, when we wur we'lnigh starvin'. There 's a school not far off. The frigates has spied 'em from aloft, an' that 'a what 's brought them 'loverin' over. They 've seed the albacores too ; and as th ly know that these preys on the flyin'-fish, they 've come lown to be nearer thar game. Unless the albacores get thar eyes on the winged fish, and run down among 'em, there '11 be no chance for the frigates. They can do nothin' till t' other jumps 'em out o' the water. The sky-blues don't seem to see 'em yet ; but I dare say it '11 not be long afore they do, judgin' by their manoeuvres. Thar ! Did n't I tell thee, lad ? See yonder ! They be off after something." As the sailor spoke, several of the albacores were seen suddenly heading in a direction parallel to the course of the Catamaran, and passing rapidly through the transparent water. In an instant after, several white objects were seen spring- ing up before them, which, after glancing for a moment i* the air, plunged back again into the water. BETWEEN TWO TYRANTS. 177 Not any of the Catamaran's crew were ignorant of the character of these objects. The silvery sheen of translucent wings, as they glittered under the bright sunbeams, pro- claimed the creatures to be a " flock " of flying fish, of which the albacores of all their many enemies the most danger- ous were now in pursuit. There may have been several of the flying- fish that did not rise into the air, but fell a prey to their pursuers under the wate*- ; and of those that did succeed in springing above the surface there were two that never came down again, at least not in the shape of flying-fish. The sea-hawks, wheeling above both pursuers and pursued, had been watching their opportunity ; and as the pretty crea- tures made their appearance above water, both the birds swooped straight down among the prinkling cohort, each selecting a victim. Both made a successful swoop ; for they were observed to turn and fly with a slant upwards, each with a flying-fish in its beak. One of them, the male bird, did n't appear to be satisfied with the hold he had taken ; for, with a sudden jerk of his head, he let go again, pitched the prey several feet upward, and again as it came down took a fresh " grip " upon it. No doubt this was to his satisfaction, for almost in the same instant that the flying-fish returned within the mandi- bles of his beak it disappeared, wings and all, down that dark passage, where, no doubt, many another of its kind had preceded it. It was evident that neither of the birds considered one flying-fish sufficient for a meal; for as soon as they had swallowed those already taken, they again placed themselves in position for shooting down upon a second victim. And now the crew of the Catamaran had the fortune to witness one of those singular incidents that may sometimes be seen upon the ocean, a little drama of Nature, in which three of her creatures, - all three differing in kind, formed the dramatis persona. 178 THE OCEAN WAIFS. The cock frigate-bird, on turning to look for a fresh victim, espied one, or that which was likely to become one, almost directly beneath him. It was a single flying-fish, which by some cnance, per- haps from not being either so fast a swimmer or so swift upon the wing as its fellows, had lagged behind the " school." It was no longer playing laggard, and for a very good reason : since an albacore, nearly full three feet in length, was swimming after it and doing his very best to overtake it Both were exerting every bit of muscular strength that lay in their fins, the former to make its escape, the latter to prevent this consummation. It was evident, however, to those on board the Catamaran^ that the pursuer was gaining upon the pursued ; and this at length became also evident to the flying-fish. The tiny creature, as it cut through the clear water, could be seen quivering with fear ; and the spectators looked to see it shoo* upward into the air, and thus disappoint the greedy tyrant at its tail. No doubt this would have been the very course of conduct for the flying-fish to have pursued ; and no doubt it was on the eve of adopting it, when, all at once, the long, shadowy wings and outstretched neck of the frigate-bird were seen outlined above. The sight was sufficient to keep the fish under water awhile longer, but only a very little while. Above were lhat ugly red pouch and craning neck ; below, those hideous jaws, ready to open and engulf it. There seemed no chance of escape. It was only a question of choice as to the mode of death : whether it would prefer to become food for a fish, or be devoured by a bird. As, in itself, it -partook a little of the nature of, or, at alj ev.ents, of the habits of both, there was not much to choosa between them ; but whether it did not desire to deliver itelf SNOWBALL MAKING A SOMERSAULT. 179 over to the enemy most like to itself, or whether it was that the latter was now so near as to be almost certain of seizing it, it declared its preference for the bird by making a sudden spring which carried it clear out of the water, and into the air. The sea-hawk hovering above in eager expectation lost PO time in making the attempt to secure it ; but whether he was too sure of his prize, or from some other unexplained reason, certain it is that he gave a practical illustration of the old and well-known adage about the cup and the lip, by fail- ing to clutch the prey. He was seen darting towards it with open beak, his talons cruelly extended for its capture ; but, notwithstanding all his activity, the white object that shot glittering past him, and dropped into the sea far beyond, proclaimed to the Cata marans that the Exocetus had escaped. CHAPTER L. SNOWBALL MAKING A SOMERSAULT. AND now all eyes were turned towards the sea-hawk, and became fixed upon him with glances that expressed surprise ; for, instead of again soaring upward, and renewing his pursuit either of the creature that he had so clumsily permitted to escape him, or some other of its kind, the bird was sesn to stay down upon the surface of the sea, his wings spread to their full extent, and flapping the water with such violence as to raise the spray in a thick cloud over and around him! He was heard, too, giving utterance to loud and repeated creams, not in the tone of a conqueror j but as if he wai 180 THE OCEAN WAIFS. in danger of being vanquished, or had already become the victim of some ocean tyrant stronger than himself I For some seconds this inexplicable movement, a struggle it seemed, continued ; not in one place, but over a space of many square yards of surface, which appeared to be also agitated by the exertions of some creature underneath ; the bird all the while repeating its cries, and beating the water into froth, like a huge pelican at play ! The crew of the Catamaran, utterly unable to account for this strange conduct on the part of the old cock, stood upon the deck of their craft, looking on with feelings of intense astonishment. Even Snowball, who thought himself au fait to every incident of ocean-life, was surprised and puzzled equally with the rest. " What be the matter wi' the creetur, Snowy ? " inquired Ben, thinking Snowball could explain its odd behavior. " The frigate 'pears to ha' got on its beam-end ; shiver my timbers if 't ain't goin' to founder ! " " Shibber ma timber, too," rejoined Snowball, rudely pirating the sailor's favorite shibboleth ; " shibber 'um, if dis nigga know what am de matter. Golly ! someting got de ole hawk by de legs, dat seem sartin. Maybe 'um be shark, maybe 'um be long-nose de " Snowball was going to say " sword-fish," had he been per- mitted to finish his speech. But he was not ; for while in the act of its delivery, with the whites of his eyes rolling in conjectural wonder, something from below struck the plank upon which he was standing, and with such a shock that the piece of timber was started from its fastenings, and impelled suddenly upwards, not only knocking the ex-sea-cook out of his perpendicular position, but pitching him, as from a catapult, clear across the Catamaran, and into the sea on the opposite side! This was not all. The plank from which Snowlall had SNOWBALL MAKING A SOMERSAULT. 181 been projected instantly fell back into its place, in con- sequence of its being one of the heaviest pieces of timber in the raft, but instead of remaining there, it was again seen to shoot upward, then fall back upon the water, as if dragged down by a powerful but invisible hand, the hand of some sea-god or demon, perhaps of Neptune himself ! Not only the plank, but the whole raft moved under this inexplicable impulsion, which had communicated to it a rocking motion, not from side to side, but upwards and down- wards ! So quick and violent was this mysterious oscilla- tion, that it was with difficulty the three individuals who still occupied the decks of the craft could keep either their bal- ance or their feet. Along with the motion of the raft there was a correspond- ing commotion in the water, accompanied by a loud splashing noise that seemed to proceed from under the tim- bers, on which, like so many acrobats, they were endeavoring to balance themselves ; and in a few seconds after they had felt the great shock, the sea all around exhibited a surface of high waves crested with foam ! Snowball, who had risen to the surface after the somer- sault that had plunged him deep down into the sea, perceiv- ing that the raft still continued to heave upward and down- ward, made no attempt to get on board ; but swimming alongside, sputtered forth his terrified ejaculations. Even the brave man-o'-war's-man, who had faced death in a thou- sand shapes, was, at that moment, the victim of fear. How could it be otherwise ? He could think of nothing in nature capable of causing that mysterious commotion and who, without trembling, could withstand the assaults of the supernatural ? u Shiver my timbers ! " cried Ben, himself shivering as ha epoke the words, " what in old Nick's name has got under us ? Be it a whale that 's bumpin* its back against the raft ? 182 THE OCEAN WAIFS. Before he could pronounce the second interrogatory, a loud crash sounded in the ears of all, as if the plank heaving so mysteriously had been suddenly torn in twain ! This sound, whatever had caused it, seemed to proclaim the climax of the commotion : for immediately after the Catamaran began to compose herself, the waves caused by her continued rocking gradually grew less, until at length, once more " righted," she lay in her customary position upon the tranquil surface of the sea. CHAPTER LI. A THRUST THROUGH AND THROUGH. AS soon as the Catamaran had fairly recovered her equilibrium, Snowball condescended to climb aboard. The ludicrous appearance of the negro, as he stood dripping upon the deck, might have excited laughter ; but neither Ben Brace, nor his acolyte, nor the little Lalee, were in a mood for mirth. On the contrary, the curious incident that had just occurred was yet unexplained ; and the awe with which it had inspired them still continued to hold all three in a sort of speechless control. Snowball himself was the first to break silence. " Good Gorramity ! ' he exclaimed, his teeth chatter- ing like castanets, as the words passed between them. " "Wha's all de rumpus 'bout ? Wha you tink, Massa Ben ? Wha make dat dratted fuss under de raff? De water be plash *bout so I 've see nuffin, 'cepting a big black heap o* someting. Golly ! I b'lieve it war dejumbe, de debbil I " The terrified looks of the speaker, while giving utterance to these words, especially when pronouncing the dreaded A THRUST THROUGH AND THROUGH. 18i1 name of the jumbe, told that he was serious in what he said ; and that he actually believed the devil to have been the agent who had been causing the mysterious commo- tion ! The English sailor, though not entirely free from a cer- tain tinge of superstition, did not share Snowball's belief. Though unable, by any experience he had ever gone through, tc account for the odd incident, still he could not ascribe it to supernatural agency. The blow which started the plank on which Snowball had been standing had communicated a shock to the whole structure. It might have been given by some huge fish, or other monster of the deep ; and though unaccountable and unexpected, might, nevertheless, be quite natural. It was the shaking which the Catamaran kept up afterwards, almost to the spilling of the whole crew into the water, that most perplexed the old man-o'-war's-man. He could not imagine why a fish, or any other creature, hav- ing butted its head once against the " keel " of the craft, would not instantly desist from such an idle encounter, and make off as fast as fins could carry it. Ben's first impression was, that a whale had by chance risen under the raft ; as he had known them to do against the sides of ships. But then the persistence of the creature, whatever it was, in its odd attack, argued something more than accident. On the other hand, if the attack was de- signed, and had been made by a whale, of whatever species, the sailor knew that it would not have left off after merely shaking the raft. A whale, with a single flirt of his tail, would have sent the whole structure flying into the air, sunk it down into the deep, or scattered it in fifty fragments over the surface of the water. One of these things a whale would undoubtedly have done. So believed Ben Brace ; and therefore the creature that had come so near capsizing them could not be a whale. What was it, then ? A shark ? No. It could not h 184 THE OCEAN WAIFS a shark. Though there are two or thrte species of these monsters, quite as large as good-sized whales, tie sailo? never knew of their assaulting anything after that fashion. As they stood speculating on the cause of their curious adventure, a shout from Snowball announced that the ex- cook had at length discovered the explanation. Snowball's first thought, after having partially recovered from his fright, was to examine the plank from which, like an acrobat from his spring-board, he had made that involun- tary somersault. There, just by the spot on which he had been standing, appeared an object that explained everything : a sharp, bony, proboscis-like implement, standing up a full foot's length out of the timber, slightly obliqued from the perpen- dicular, and as firmly imbedded in the wood as if it had been driven in by the blows of a blacksmith's hammer! That it had penetrated the plank from underneath could be easily seen, by the ragged edge, and split pieces around the orifice where it came out. But the negro did not stay to draw deductions of this nature. On catching sight of the object, which he knew had not been there before, his terror at once came to an end ; and a long cachinnation, intended for a peal of laugh- ter, announced that " Snowball was himself again." " Golly ! " he exclaimed.'" Look dar, Massa Brace. Look at de ting dat hab gub us sich a frightnin. Whuch ! Who'd a beliebed dat de long-nose had got so much 'trength in im ugly body ? Whuch ! " - A sword-fish ! " cried Ben. The rostrum of one ol these singular creatures was the sharp bone protruding above the plank. " You 're , right, Snowy, it be a sword- fish, and nothing else." " Only de snout o' one," jocularly rejoined the negro. " De karkiss ob de anymal an't dar any more. Dat was de black body I seed under de raff; but he an't dar now AN AWKWARD GRIP. 185 He hab broke off him long perbossus ; and no doubt dat hab killed him. He gone dead, and to de bottom, boaf at de same time." " Yes," assented the sailor. " It must have broke off while he was struggling to get clear. I heerd the crash o't, like the partin o' a spar ; and just after, the raft stopped ghakin', an' began to settle down again. Lor ha mercy on os ! what a thrust he have made ! That plank be five inchei thick, at the very least, an' you see he 's stuck his snout through it more *n a foot ! Lor 'a mercy on .us ! What wonderful queery creeturs the ocean do contain!" And with this philosophic reflection, from the lips of the man-o'-war's-man, ended the adventure. CHAPTER LII. AN AWKWARD GRIP. TO the two oldest of the Catamaran's crew the curious circumstances of the sword-fish thrusting his rostrum through the raft, and snapping it asunder, needed no expla- nation. Both knew that it was not with an intention of attacking the Catamaran that the " stab " had been given ; nor was the act a voluntary one, in any way. Not likely, indeed ; since it had proved fatal to the swords- man himself. No one doubted his having gone dead to the bottom of the sea : for the bony " blade " was found to have been broken close to the " hilt," and it was not possible tht, owner could exist without this important weapon. Even supposing that the fearful " fracture " had not killed him outright, the loss of his long rapier, the only tool by which h? could obtain his living, would be sure to shorten his leass f life, and the final moment could not be long delayed. 186 THE OCEAN WAIFS But neither sailor nor ex-sea-cook had any doubt of tha fish having committed suicide, no more than that the act waa involuntary. The explanation given by Ben Brace to his protege waa simple, as it was also rational. The sword-fish had been charging into a shoal of albacores. Partly blinded by the velocity of its impetuous rush, and partly by its instinct of extreme voracity, perhaps amounting to a passion, it had seen nothing of the raft until its long weapon struck the plank, piercing the latter through and through. Unable to withdraw its rostrum from the fibrous wood, the fish had instantly inaugurated that series of struggles, and continued them, until the crash came, caused, no doubt, by the up- heaved raft lurching suddenly down in a direction transverse to its snout. Only a part of this explanatory information was extended to little William : for only a part was required. From some previous talk that had occurred on the same subject, he was already acquainted wiih a few of the facts relating to this foolish fencing on the part of the sword-fish. Nor was there at that moment any explanation either offered or asked ; for, as soon as the Catamaran had settled into her proper position, and Snowball had got aboard, the eyes of her whole crew, those of the Coromantee among the rest, became once more directed to that which had occupied their attention previous to receiving the shock, the strange behavior of the frigate-bird. This creature was still down on the surface of the water, darling from point to point, fluttering and flopping, and Ihrowing up the little clouds of spray, that, surrounding it like a nimbus, seemed to follow it wherever it went ! Though Ben Brace and Snowball had been able to explain iho action of the fish, they were both at fault about the be- liuvior of the bird. In all their sea experience neither had ever witnessed the like conduct before, either on the parl of a frigate-bird, or any other bird of the ocean. AN AWKWARD GRIP. 187 Fof a long time they stood watching the creature, and ex- ehanging conjectures as to the cause of its singular action. It was clear this was not voluntary ; for its movements par- took of the nature of a struggle. Besides, its screams, tc which it gavb an almost continuous utterance, betokened either terror or pain, or both. But why did it keep to the surface of the sea, when it waa well known to be a bird that could rise almost vertically into the air, and to the highest point that winged creatures might ascend ? This was the query to which neither sailor nor sea-cook could give a reply, either with positive truth or probable conjecture. For full ten minutes it remained unanswered ; that is, ten minutes after the sword-fish adventure had ended, and twenty from the time the frigate-bird had been seen io swoop at the flying-fish. Then, however, the problem received its solu- tion ; and the play of the Pelicanus aquila was at length explained. It was no play on the part of the unfortunate bird, but a case of involuntary and fearful captivity. The bird had begun to show symptoms of exhaustion , and as its strength became enfeebled, its wings flopped more gently against the water, the spray no longer rose around it, and the sea underneath was less agitated. The spectators could now see that it was not alone. Be- neath, and apparently clutching it by the leg, was a fi*h whose shape, size, and sheen of azure hue proclaimed it an albacore, no doubt, the one that simultaneously with the bird itself had been balked in the pursuit of the flying-fish. So far the detention of the frigate-bird upon the surface of the sea was explained ; but not sufficiently. There was still cause for conjecture. The albacore seemed equally tired of the connection, equally exhausted ; and as it swam slowly about, no longer darting swiftly from point to point, 188 THE OCEAN WAIFS. as at the beginning of the strife, the spectators could now see that the foot of the sea-hawk, instead of being held between the jaws of the fish, as at first they had supposed it to be, appeared to be resting on the back of its head, as if the bird had perched there, and was balancing itself on one leg! Mystery of mysteries ! What could it all mean ? The struggles of both bird and fish seemed coming tic a termination: as they were now only continued intermit- tently. After each interval, the wings of the former and the fins of the latter moved with feebler stroke ; until at length both wings and fins lay motionless, the former on t the latter in, the water. But that the bird's wings were extended, it would, no doubt, have sunk under the surface ; and the fish was still making feeble endeavors to draw it down ; but the spruad pinions, extending over nearly ten feet of surface, frustrated the design. It so chanced that the curious spectacle had occurred directly ahead of the Catamaran, and the craft, making way down the wind, kept gradually approaching the scene of the strife. Every moment the respective positions of the two parties revealed themselves more clearly ; but it was not until the raft swept within reach, and the exhausted adversaries were both taken up, that the connection between them became thoroughly understood. Then it was discovered that the contest which had oc- curred between them was on both sides an involuntary affair, had not been sought by either ; but was the result of sheer accident. How could it be otherwise: since the albacore is too strong for the beak of the frigate-bird, too big for efen its capacious throat to swallow ; while, on the other hand, the frigate-bird never ventures to intrude itself on the crui* ing-ground of this pOAverful fish ? AN AWKWARD GRIP. 181 The accident which had conducted to this encountnr, lead- ing to a fatal entanglement, had been caused by a ci eutur*. which is the common prey of both, the little flying-fish, that for once had escaped from his enemies of both elements, the air and the water. In dashing down upon the flying-fish, the curving talons of the bird, missing the object for which they had been braced, entered the eye of the albacore. Partly because they fitted exactly into the socket, and partly becoming imbedded among the fibrous sutures of the skull, they re- mained fixed ; so that neither bird nor fish equally desirous of undoing the irksome yoke was able to put an end to the partnership ! Snowball gave them a divorce, as effectual as could have been obtained in the court, ever to be noted as that of Sir Cresswell Cresswell. The process was brief, the execution following quick upon the judgment ; though the sentences pronounced upon the criminals were not exactly the same. The fish was knocked on the head ; while a different, though equally expeditious, mode of punishment was exe- cuted upon the bird. Its head was twisted from its body ! Thus, somewhat after the fashion of Kilkenny cats, per- ished two tyrants of the sea. Let us hope that the tyrants of the land may all receive an analogous compensation fsed land 210 THE OCEAN WAIFS. " Land ! he exclaimed, as soon as his eyes again rested npon it. " A island, indeed ! Shiver my timbers if 't bo a island after all ! That be no land, ne'er a bit o't. It look like a rock, too ; but there be something else it look liker ; an' that be a whale, 'T is wery like a whale ! " " Berry, berry like a whale ! " echoed Snowball, not too well satisfied at discovering the resemblance. " It be a whale ! " pronounced the sailor, in a tone of em phatic confidence, "a whale, an' nothin' else. Ay," he continued speaking, as if some new light had broken upon him, " I see it all now. It be one o' the great spermacety whales. I wonder I did n't think o't afore. It 's been killed by some whaling-vessel ; and the flag you see on its back's neyther more nor less than one o' their whifts. They 've stuck it there, so as they might be able to find the sparmacety when they come back. Marcy heaven ! I hope they will come back." As Ben finished this explanatory harangue, he started into an erect attitude, and placed himself on the highest part of the Catamaran's deck, his eyes no longer bent upon the whale, but, with greedy glances, sweeping the sea around it. The object of this renewed reconnoissance may be under- stood from the words to which he had given utterance, the hope expressed at the termination of his speech. The whale must have been killed, as he had .-aid. He was look- ing for the whaler. For full ten minutes he continued his optical search over the sea, until not a fathom of the surface had escaped h'-S scrutiny. At first his glances had expressed almost a confident hope ; and, observing them, the others became excited to a high degree of joy. Gradually, however, the old shadow returned over tha sailor's countenance, and was instantly transferred to the faces of his companions VERY LIKE A WHALt 2H The sea, as far as his eye could command a view of it, showed neither sail, nor any other object. Its shining surface was absolutely without a speck. With a disappointed air, the captain of the Catamaran descended from his post of observation ; and once more turned his attention to the dead cachalot from which they were now separated by less than a hundred fathoms, a distance that was constantly decreasing, as the raft, under sail, continued to drift nearer. The body of the whale did not appear anything like as large as when first seen. The mist was no longer producing its magnifying effect upon the vision of our adventurers ; but although the carcass of the cachalot could no more have been mistaken for an island, still was it an object of enormous dimensions ; and might easily have passed for a great black rock standing several fathoms above the surface of the sea. It was over twenty yards in length ; and, seen sideways from the raft, of course appeared much longer. In five minutes after, they were close up to the dead whale ; and, the sail being lowered, the raft was brought to. Ben threw a rope around one of the pectoral fins ; and, after making it fast, the Catamaran lay moored alongside the cachalot, like some diminutive tender attached to a huge ship of war ! There were several reasons why Ben Brace should mount np to the summit of that mountain of whalebone and blubber ; and, as soon as the raft had been safely secured, he essayed the ascent. It was not such a trifling feat, this climbing upon the carcass of the dead whale. Nor was it to be done without danger. The slippery epidermis of the huge leviathan, lubricated as it was with that unctuous fluid which the skin of the spenn-whale is known to secrete, rendered footing upon it extremely insecure. It might be fancied no great matter for a swiiuner lik* 212 THE OCKAX \VAIFS. Ben Brace to slide off: since a fall of a few feet into the water could not cause him any great bodily hurt. But when the individual forming this fancy has been told that there was something like a score of sharks prowling around the carcass, he will obtain a more definite idea of the danger to which such a fall would have submitted the adventurous seaman. Ben Brace was the last man to be cowed by a trifling danger, or even one of magnitude ; and partly by Snowball's assistance, and using the pectoral flipper to which the raft was attached as a stirrup, he succeeded in mounting upon the back of the defunct monster of the deep. As soon as he had steadied himself in his new position, a piece of rope was thrown up to him, by which Snowball was himself hoisted to the shoulders of the cachalot ; and then the two seamen proceeded towards the tail, or, as the sailor pronounced it, the " starn " of this peculiar craft. A little aft of " midships " a pyramidal lump of fatty substance projected several feet above the line of the ver- tebraj. It was the spurious or rudimentary dorsal fin, with which the sperm-whale is provided. On arriving at this protuberance, which chanced to be the highest point on the carcass where the flag was elevated on its slender shaft, both came to a halt ; and there stood together, gazing around them over the glittering surface of the sunlit sea ABOARD THE BODY OF A WHALE. 213 CHAPTER LIX. ABOARD THE BODY OF A WHALE. object of their united reconnoissance was the same 1 which, but a few moments before, had occupied the attention of the sailor. They weie standing on the dead body of a whale that had been killed by harpoons. Where were the people who had harpooned it ? After scanning the horizon with the same careful scrutiny as before, the sailor once more turned his attention to the hnge leviathan, on whose back they were borne. Several objects not before seen now attracted the atten- tion of himself and companion. The tall flag, known among whalers by the name of " whift," was not the only evidence of the manner in which the cachalot had met its death. Two large harpoons were seen sticking out of its side, their iron arrows buried up to the socket in its blubber ; while from the thick wooden shanks, protruding beyond the skin, were lines extending into the water, at the ends of which were large blocks of wood floating like buoys upon the surface of the sea. Ben identified the latter as the " drogues," that form part of the equipment of a regular whale-ship. He knew them well, and their use. Before becoming a man-o'-war's-man, he had handled the harpoon ; and was perfectly au fait to all connected with the calling of a whaler. "Yes," resumed he, on recognizing the implements of his ri-devant profession, "it ha' been jest as I said. A whaler's been over this ground, and killed the spermacety. Maybe I 'm wrong about that," he added, after reflecting a short while. "I may be wrong about the ship being over this very ground. I don't like the look o' them drogues." " De drogue ? " inquired the Coromantee. " Dem block 214 THE OCEAN WAIFS. ' wood dat am driffin' about? Wha' for you no like den\ Massa Brace?" " But for their bein' thear I could say for sartiu a ship had been here." " Must a' been ! " asserted Snowball. " If no', how you count for de presence ob de flag and de hapoons ? " " Ah ! " answered the sailor, with something like a sigh ; "they kud a' got thear, without the men as throwed 'em bein' anywhere near this. You know nothin' o' whalin', Snowy." This speech put Snowball hi a quandary. " You see, nigger," continued the sailor, " tne presence o' them drogues indercates that the whale war n't dead when the boats left her." (The ci-devant whaler followed the fashion of his former associates, in speaking of the whale, among whom the epicene gender of the animal is always feminine.) " She must a' been still alive," continued he, " and the drogues were put thear to hinder her from niakin much way through the water. In coorse there must a' been a school o' the spermacetys ; and the crew o' the whaler did n't want to lose time with this 'un, which they had wounded. For that reason they have struck her with this pair o' drogued harpoons ; and stuck this whift into her back. On fust seein' that, I war inclined to think different. You see the whift be stickin' a'most straight up, an' how could that a' been done by them in the boats? If the rhale had n't a' been dead, nobody would a' dared to a elombed on to her an' fix the flag that way." " You are right dar," interrupted Snowball. "No," rejoined the sailor, "I ain't. I thought I war; bnt I war wrong, as you be now, Snowy. You see the flag-spear ain't straight into the back o' the anymal. It 'fl to one side, though it now stand nearly on top ; because the body o' the whale be canted over a bit. A first-rate ' headi- man o' a whale-boat could easily a' throwed it that way ABOARD THE BODY OF A WHALE. 2U from the bottom o his boat, and that 's the way it ha' been done." " Spose 'im hab been jest dat way," assented Snowball. * But wha' matter 'bout dat ? De whale ham been kill all de same." " What matter ? Everything do it matter." " 'Splain, Massa Brace ! " " Don't ye see, nigger, that if the spermacety had been despatched while the boats were about it, it would prove that the whale-ship must a' been here while they were a killin' the creature ; an' that would go far to prove that she could n't be a great ways off now." " So dat wud, so im wud, fo' sa'tin sure." " Well, Snowy, as the case stands, thear be no sartinty where the whaler be at this time. The anymal, after being drogued, may a' sweemed many a mile from the place where she war first harpooned. I Ve knowed 'em to go a score o' knots afore they pulled up ; an' this bein' a' old bull, one o' the biggest spermacetys I ever see, she must a' sweemed to the full o' that distance afore givin' in. If that 's been so, thear ain't much chance o' eyther her or we bein' overhauled by the whaler." As the sailor ceased speaking he once more directed his glance over the ocean ; which, after another minute and careful scrutiny of the horizon, fell back upon the body of the whale, with the same expression of disappointment thai before had been observable. 216 THE OCEAN WAIFS. CHAPTER LX. A CURIOUS CUISINE. DURING all that day, the sailor and the ex -cook of th Pandora kept watch from the summit of the dead cacftalot. It was not altogether for this purpose they remained there, since the mast of the Catamaran would have given them an observatory of equal and even greater elevation. There were several reasons why they did not cast off from the carcass, and continue their westward course : the most important being the hope that the destroyers of the whale might return to take possession of the valuable prize which they had left behind them. There was, moreover, an undefined feeling of security in lying alongside the leviathan, almost as great as they might have felt if anchored near the beach of an actual island, and this had some influence in protracting their stay. But there was yet another motive which would of itself have caused them to remain at their present moorings for a considerable period of time. During the intervals of their protracted vigil, they had not been inattentive to the objects immediately around them: and the carcass of the whale had come in for a share of their consideration. A consultation had been held upon it, which had resulted in a determination not to leave the le- viathan until they had rendered its remains, or at least a portion of them, useful for some future end. The old whaleman knew that under that dark epidermis over which, for two days, they had been recklessly treading, there were many valuable substances that might be made available to theii use and comfort, on board the Catamaran. A CURIOUS CUISINE. 217 First, there was the " blubber," which, if boiled or " tried," irould, from the body of an old bull like that, yield, at the very least, a hundred barrels of oil. This they cared nothing about : since they had neither tho jots to boil, the casks to hold, nor the craft tr carry it, even if rendered into oil for the market. But Ben knew that within the skull of the cachalot there was a deposit of pure sperm, that needed no preparation, which would be found of service to them in a way they had already thought of. This sperm could be reached by simply removing the "junk" which forms the exterior portion of a cachalot's huge snout, and sinking a shaft into the skull. Here would, or should, be found a cavity filled with a delicate cellular tissue, containing ten or a dozen large barrels full of the purest spermaceti. They did not stand in need of anything like this quantity. A couple of casks would suffice for their need ; and these they desired to obtain for that want which had suggested itself to both Snowball and the sailor. They had been long suffering from the absence of fuel, not wherewith to warm themselves, but as a means of enabling them to cook their food. They need suffer no longer. With the spermaceti to be extracted from the " case " of the cachalot, they could lay in a stock that would last them for many a day. They had their six casks, five of them still empty. By using a couple of them to contain the oil, the raft would still be sufficiently buoyant to carry all hands, and not a bit less worthy of the sea. Both of these brave men had observed the repugnance with which Lilly Lalee partook of their raw repasts. Nothing but hunger enabled her to eat what they could set before her. It had touched the feelings of both ; and rendered them desirous of providing her with some kind of food more congenial to the delicate palate of the child. 10 218 THE OCEAN WAIFS. Long before they had any intention of abandoning th dead body of the whale, in fact shortly after taking pos- session of it, Ben Brace, assisted by Snowball and little William, the latter having also mounted upon the mon- oter's back, cut open the great cavity of the " case " with the axe ; and then inserting a large tin pot, which had turned up in the sailor's sea-kit, drew it out again full of liquid spermaceti. This was carried down to the deck of the Catamaran^ when the process of making a fire was instantly proceeded with. By means of some untwisted strands of tarry rope, in- geniously inserted into the oil, the pot was converted into a sort of open lamp, which only required to be kindled into a flame. But Ben Brace had not been smoking a pipe for a period of nearly thirty years, without being provided with the means of lighting it. In the same depository from which the tin pot had been obtained was found the proper imple- ments for striking a light, flint, steel, and tinder, and, as the latter, within the water-tight compartment of the man-o'-war's-man's chest, having been preserved perfectly dry, there was no difficulty in setting fire to the oil. It was soon seen burning up over the rim of the pot with a bright clear flame ; and a large flake of the dried fish being held over the blaze, in a very short space of time be- came done to a turn. This furnished all of them with a meal much more palafr able than any they had eaten since they had been forced to flee from the decks of the burning Pandcra. AN ASSEMBLY OF SHARKS. 219 CHAPTER LXI. AN ASSEMBLY OF SHAEKS. AS the spermaceti in the pot still continued to blaze up, the wick not yet having burnt out, il occurred to Snowball to continue his culinary operations, and broil a Bufficient quantity of the dead fish to serve for supper. The ex-cook, unlike most others of his calling, did not like to see his fuel idly wasted : and therefore, in obedience to the thought that had suggested itself, he brought forth another flake of shark flesh, and submitted to the flames, as before. While observing him in the performance of this pi evident task, a capital idea also occurred to Ben Brace. Since it was possible thus to cook their supper in advance, why not also their breakfast for the following morning, then dinner for the day, their supper of to-morrow night, in short, all the raw provisions which they had on their hands ? By doing this, not only would a fire be no longer necessary, but the fish so cooked, or even thoroughly dried in the blaze and smoke, would be likely to keep better. In fact, fish thus preserved, as is often done with herrings, ling, cod- fish, mackerel, and haddock, will remain good for months without suffering the slightest taint of decomposition. It was an excellent idea; and, Ben having communicated it to the others, it was at once determined that it should be carried out There was no fear of their running short in the staple article of fuel. Ben assured them that the " case " of a cachalot of the largest size, such as the one beside them, often contained five hundred gallons of the liquid sper- maceti ! Besides, there was the enormous quantity of junk and blubber, whole mountains of it, both of which eould be rendered into oil by a process which the whalen 220 THE OCEAN WAIFS. term "trying." Other inflammable substances, too, are found in the carcass of the sperm-whale : so that, in the article of fuel, the crew of the Catamaran had been unex- pectedly furnished with a stock by which they might keep up a blazing lire for the whole of a twelvemonth. It was no longer any scarcity of fuel that could hinder them from cooking on a large scale, but a scantiness of the provisions to be cooked ; and they were now greatly troubled at the thought of their larder having got so low. While Ben Brace and Snowball stood pondering upon thia, and mjtually murmuring their regrets, a thought sud- denly came into the mind of the sailor which was calculated to give comfort to all. " As for the provisions in our locker," said he, " we can easily 'plenish them, such as they be. Look there, nigger There be enough raw meat to keep ye a' cookin' till your wool grows white." The sailor, as he said this, simply nodded toward the sea. It needed no further pointing out to understand what he meant by the phrase " raw meat." Scores of sharks, both of the blue and white species, attended by their pilots and suckers, were swimming around the carcass of the cachalot. The sea seemed alive with them. Scarce a square rod, within a circle of several hundred fathoms' circumfer- ence, that did not exhibit their stiff, wicked-looking dorsal fins cutting sharply above the surface. Of course the presence of the dead whale accounted for this unusual concourse of the tyrants of the deep. Not that they had any intention of directing their attack upon it: for, from the peculiar conformation of his mouth, the shark is incapable of feeding upon the carcass of a large whale. But having, no doubt, accompanied the chase at the time the cachalot had been harpooned, they were now staying by a dead body, from an instinct that told them its destroyer* AN ASSEMBLY OF SHARKS 221 would return, and supply them with its flesh m convenient morsels, while occupied in flensing it. " Ugh ! " exclaimed the sailor ; " they look hungry enough to bite at any bait we may throw out to them. We won't have much trouble in catchin' as many o' 'em as we want." " A doan b'lieve, Massa Brace, we hab got nebba such a ting as a shark-hook 'board de Cat'maran" u Don't make yourself uneasy 'bout that," rejoined the sailor, in a confident tone. " Shark-hook be blowed ! I see somethin' up yonder worth a score o' shark-hooks. The brutes be as tame as turtles turned on their backs. They 're always so about a dead spermacety. Wi' one o' them ere tools as be stickin' in the side o' the old bull, if I don't pull , f'ew-o' them out o' water, I never handled a harpoon, that 's all. Ye may stop your cookin' Snowy, an' go help me. When we 've got a few sharks catched an' cut up, then you can go at it again on a more 'stensive scale. Come along, my hearty ! " As Ben terminated his speech, he strode across the deck of the raft, and commenced clambering up on the carcass. Snowball, who perceived the wisdom of his old comrade's design, let go the flake of fish he had been holding in the blase; and, parting from the pot, once mare followed th v-p the wt^ep side ci the Cachalot. 222 THE OCEAN WAIFS. CHAPTER LXII. A DANGEROUS EQUILIBRIUM. BEN had taken along with him the axe ; and, proceed ing towards one of the harpoons, still buried in tb i body of the whale, he commenced cutting it out. In a few moments a deep cavity was hewn out around the shank of the harpoon ; which was further deepened, until the barbed blade was wellnigh laid bare. Snowball, impatiently seizing the stout wooden shaft, gave it a hercu- lean pluck, that completely detached the arrow from the soft blubber in which it had been imbedded. Unfortunately for Snowball, he had not well calculated the strength required for clearing that harpoon. Having already made several fruitless attempts to extract it, he did not expect it to draw out so easily ; and, in consequence of his making an over-effort, his balance became deranged ; his feet, ill-planted upon the slippery skin, flew simultane- ously from beneath him ; and he came down upon the side of the leviathan with a loud " slap," similar to what might have been heard had he fallen upon half-thawed ice. Unpleasant as this mishap may have been, it was not the worst that might have befallen him on that occasion. Nor was it the fall itself that caused him to " sing out" at the top of his voice, and in accents betokening a terrible alarm. What produced this manifestation was a peril of far more fearful kind, which at the moment menaced him. The spot where the harpoon had been sticking was in the side of the cachalot, and, as the carcass lay, a broad space around the weapon presented an inclined plane, sloping abruptly towards the water. Lubricated as it was with the secreted oil of the animal, it was smooth as glass. Upon this slope Snowball had been standing ; and upon - 't had M (alien. A DANGEROUS EQUILIBRIUM. 223 But the impetus of the fall not only hindered him from lying where he had gone down, but also from being able to get up again ; and, instead of doing either one or the other, ha commenced sliding down the slippery surface of the levi- athan's body, where it shelved towards the water. Good heavens ! what was to become of him ? A score of sharks were just below, waiting for him with hungry jaws, and eyes glancing greedily upward. Seeing the two men mounted upon the carcass of the whale, and one wielding an axe, they had gathered upon that side, in the belief that the flensing was about to begin ! ' it was a slight circumstance that saved the sea-cook from being eaten up, not only raw, but alive. Simply the cir- cumstance of his having held on to the harpoon. Had he dropped that weapon on falling, it would never have been grasped by him again. Fortunately, he had the presence of mind to hold on to it ; or perhaps the tenacity was merely mechanical. Whatever may have been the reason, he did hold on. Fortunately, also, he was gliding down on the side opposite to that on which floated the " drogue." These two circumstances saved him. When about half-way to the water, and still sliding /apidly downwards, his progress was suddenly arrested, or rather impeded, for he was not altogether brought to a stop, by a circumstance as unexpected as it was fortunate. That was the tightening of the line attached to the handle of the harpoon. He had slidden to the end of his tether, - the other end of which was fast to the drogue drifting about in the sea, as already said, on the opposite side of the car- cass. Heavy as was the piece of wood, and offering, as il did, a considerable amount of resistance in being dragged through the water, it would not have been sufficient to sustain the huge body of the Coromantee. It only checked the rapidity of his descent ; and in the end he would have 224 THE OCEAN WAIFS. gont down into the sea, and shortly after into the stomachs of, perhaps, half a score of sharks, but for the opportune interference of the ex-inan-o'-war's-man ; who, just in the nick of time, at the very moment when Snowball's toes were within six inches of the water's edge, caught hold of the cord and arrested his farther descent. But although the sailor had been able to accomplish this itach, and was also able to keep Snowball from slipping farther down, he soon discovered that he was unable to pull him up again. It was just as much as his strength was equal to, even when supplemented by the weight of the drogue, to keep the sea-cook in the place where he had succeeded in checking him. There hung Snowball in sus- pense, holding on to the slippery skin of the cachalot, lit- erally " with tooth and toe-nail." Snowball saw that his position was perilous, more than that: it was frightful. He could hear noises beneath him, the rushing of the sharks through the water. He glanced ipprehensively below. He could see their black triangular fins, and note the lurid gleaming of their eyeballs, as they rolled in their sunken sockets. It was a sight to terrify the stoutest heart ; and that of Snowball did not escape being terrified. " Hole on, Massa Brace ! " he instinctively shouted. " Hole on, fo' de lub o' God ! Doan't leab me slip an inch, or dese dam brute sure cotch hold ob me ! Fo' de lub o' de great Gorramity, hole on ! " Ben needed not the stimulus of this pathetic appeal. He was holding on to the utmost of his strength. He could not have added another pound to the pull. He dared not even renew either Lis attitude, or the grip he had upon the rope. The slightest movement he might make would endanger the life of his black-skinned comrade. A slackening of the cord, even to the extent of twelve Inches, would have been fatal to the feet of Snowbal^ A DANGEROUS EQUILIBRIUM. 225 already within six of the surface of the water and the snouta of the sharks ! Perhaps never in all his checkered career had the life of the negro been suspended in such dangerous balance. The slightest circumstance would have disturbed the equilibrium, an ounce would have turned the scale, and delivered him into the jaws of death. It is scarcely necessary to conjecture what would ulti- mately have been the end of this perilous adventure, had the sailor and sea-cook been permitted to terminate it be- tween themselves. The strength of the former was each instant decreasing ; while the weight of the latter, now more feebly clinging to the slippery epidermis of the whale, was in like proportion becoming greater. With nothing to intervene, the result might be easily guessed. In figurative parlance Snowball must have "gone overboard." But his time was not yet come ; and his comrade knew this, when a pair of hands, small, but strong ones, were seen grasping the cord, alongside of his own. They were the hands of Little Will'm!" At the earliest moment, after Snowball had slipped and fallen, the lad had perceived his peril ; and " swarming " up by the flipper of the whale, had hurried to the assistance of Ben, laying hold of the rope, not one second too soon. It was soon enough, however, to save the suspended Coro mantee ; whose body, now yielding to the united strength of the two, was drawn up the slippery slope, slowly, bu* urely, until it rested upon the broad horizontal spac* around the summit of thai mountain of bones and blubber 226 THE OCEAN WAIFS. CHAPTER LXIII. A HARPOON WELL HANDLED. IT was some time before either his breath or the tranquil lity of his spirits was restored to the Coromantee. The sailor was equally suffering from the loss of the for- mer ; and both remained for a good many minutes without taking any further steps towards the accomplishment of the design which had brought them on the back of the whale. As soon, however, as Snowball could find wind enough for a few words, they were uttered in a tone of gratitude, first to Ben, who had hindered him from sinking down into something worse than a watery grave ; and then to little William, who had aided in raising him up from it. Ben less regarded the old comrade whom he had rescued than the young one who had been instrumental in aiding him. He stood gazing upon the youth with eyes that expressed a lively satisfaction. " The promptitude and prowess which his protege had ex- hibited in the affair was to him a source of the greatest gratification. Many a boy old as he, ay, older, thought Ben Brace, instead of having the sense shown by the lad in promptly running to the rescue, would have remained upon the raft in mute surprise ; or, at the best, have evinced tis sympathy by a series of unserviceable shouts, or a contir ued and idle ecreaming. Ben did not wish to spoil his protege by any spoken for- mula of praise, and therefore he said nothing : though, from his glances directed towards little William, it was easy to see that the bosom of the brave tar was swelling with a fond pride in the youth, for whom he had long felt an affection almost equalling that of a father. A HARPOON WELL HANDLED. 227 After indulging a short while in the mutual congratula- tions that naturally follow such a crisis of danger, all three proceeded to the execution of the duty so unexpectedly in terrupted. William had succeeded Snowball in that simple culinary operation which the latter, commanded by his captain, had BO suddenly relinquished. The lad now returned to the raft, partly to complete the process of broiling the fish ; but perhaps with a greater de- sire to tranquillize the fears of Lilly Lalee, who, ignorant of the exact upshot of what had transpired, was yet in a state of unpleasant agitation. Ben only waited for the return of his breath; and as soon as that was fairly restored to him, he once more set about the design that had caused him for the second time to climb upon the back of the cachalot. Taking the harpoon from the hands of the Corowantee, who still kept clutching it, as if there was danger in letting it go, the sailor proceeded to draw up the drogue Assisted by Snowball, he soon raised it out of the water, and hoisted it to the horizontal platform, on which th^y had placed themselves. He did not want the block of wood just then, only the line tied to it ; and this having been detached, the drogue was left lying upon the carcass. Armed with the harpoon, the ci-devant whaleman now took a survey, not of the land, but of the sea around him. There was an assemblage of sharks close in to the body of the whale, at the spot where they had so lately threat- ened Snowball. Some ot them had since scattered away, with a full con- sciousness of their disappointment; but the greater number had stayed, as if unsatisfied, or expecting that the banquet that had been so near their noses might be brought back to them. 228 THE OCEAN WAIFS. Ben's purpose was to harpoon some Lalf-dozen of these ill-featured denizens of the deep, and with their flesh replen- ish the stores of the Catamaran; for repulsive as the brutes may appear to the eye, and repugnant to the thoughts, they nevertheless, that is, certain species of them, and certain parts of these species, afford excellent food : such as an epicure, to say nothing of a man half- famished, may eat with sufficient relish. There could have been no difficulty in destroying any of the sharks so late threatening to swallow Snowball, had the harpooner been able to get within striking distance of them. But the slippery skin of the whale deterred the sailor from trusting himself on that dangerous incline; and he deter- mined, therefore, to try elsewhere. In the direction of the cachalot's tail the descent was gradual. Scarcely perceptible was its declination towards the water, upon which lay the two great flukes, slightly sunk below the surface, and extending on each side to a breadth of many yards. There were several sharks playing around the tail of the cachalot. They might come within the pitch of a harpoon. If not, the old whaleman knew how to attract them within easy reach of that formidable weapon. Directing Snowball to bring after him some of the pieces of blubber, which, in cutting out the harpoon, had been detached from the carcass, Ben proceeded towards the tail. Here and there as he advanced, with the sharp edge of the harpoon blade, he cut out a number of ho'es in the spongy skin, in order to give both himself and his follower a more sure footing on the slimy surface. At the point where he intended to take his stand, close in by the " crutch " of the cachalot's tail-fin, he made three excavations with more care. At length, satisfied with his preparations, he stood, with pointed harpoon, waiting for one of the sharks to come within striking distance. The'} A HARPOON WELL HANDLED. 229 * fought shy " at first ; but the old whaleman knew a way of overcoming their shyness. It only required that "chunk" of blubber, held in the hands of Snowball, to be thrown into the water, and simultaneous with the plunge a score of sharks would be seen rushing, open-mouthed, to seize upon it. This in effect was precisely what transpired. The blubber was dropped into the sea, close as possible to the carcass of the whale, the sharks came charging towards it, nearly twenty of them. The same number, however, did not go back as they had come ; for one of them, impaled by the harpoon of Ben Brace, was dragged out of his native element, and hauled up the well-greased incline towards the highest point on the carcass of the cachalot. There, notwithstanding his struggles and the desperate aa well as dangerous fluking of his posterior fins, he was soon despatched by the axe, wielded with all the might and dex- terity which the Coromantee could command. Another shark was " hooked," and then despatched in a similar fashion ; and then another and another, until Ben Brace believed that enough shark-flesh had been obtained to furnish the Catamaran with stores for the most prolonged voyage. At all events, they would now have food such as it waa to last as long as the water with which the hand of Proyi- dence alone seemed to have provided them. 230 THE OCEAN WAIFS. CHAPTER LXIV. THE THICK WATERS. TJHE most palatable portions of the sharks' flesh having been stripped from the bones and cut into thin slices, were now to be submitted to a drying, or rather broiling process. This was to be accomplished by a fire of sper- maceti. As already stated, there was no scarcity on the score of this fuel. The " case " of the cachalot contained enough to have roasted all the sharks within a circle of ten miles around it ; and, to all appearance, there were hundreds of them inside that circumference. Indeed, that part of the ocean where the dead whale had been found, though far from any land, is at all times most prolific in animal life. Sometimes the sea for miles around a ship will be seen swarming with fish of various kinds, while the air is filled with birds. In the water may be seen large " schools " of whales, " basking " as the whalers term it at intervals, "spouting" forth their vaporous breath, or moving slowly onward, some of them, every now and then, exhibiting their uncouth gambols. Shoals of porpoises, albacores, bo- nitos, and other gregarious fishes will appear in the same place, each kind in pursuit of its favorite prey, while sharks, threshers, and sword-fish, accompanied by their " pilots " and " suckers," though in lesser numbers, here also abound, from the very abundance of the species on which these sea-monsters subsist. "Flocks" of flying-fish sparkle in the sun with troops of bonitos gliding watchful below, while above them the sky will sometimes be literally clouded with predatory birds, gulls, boobies, gannets, tropic and frigate-birds, albatrosses, and a score of other kinds but little known, and as yet undescribed by the nat- uralist. THE THICK WATERS. 231 It may be asked why so many creatures of different kinds congregate in this part of the ocean ? Upon what do they subsist ? what food can they find so far from land ? A ready reply to these questions may be given, by saying, that they subsist upon each other ; and this would be, to some extent, true. But then there must be a base forming the food for all, and produced by some process of nature. What process can be going on in the midst of the ocean to furnish the subsistence of such myriads of large and vora- cious creatures ? In the waters of the great deep, appar- ently so pure and clear, one would think that no growth, either animal or vegetable, could spring up, that nothing could come out of nothing. For all this, in that pure, clear water, there is a continual process of production, not only from the soil at the bottom of the sea, but the salt water itself contains the germs of material substances, that sus- tain life, or become, themselves, living things, by what ap- pears, to our ignorant eyes, spontaneous production. There is no spontaneity in the matter. It is simply the principle of creation, and acting under laws and by ways that, however ill-understood by us, have existed from the beginning of the world. It is true that the whole extent of the great oceans ar not thus thickly peopled. Vast tracts may be traversed, where both fish and birds of all kinds are extremely scarce ; and a ship may sail for days without seeing an individual of Cither kind. A hundred miles may be passed over, and the eye may not be gratified by the sight of a living thing, either in the water or the air. These tracts may truly be termed the deserts of the sea ; like those of the land, appar- ently uninhabited and uninhabitable. It may be asked, Why this difference, since the sea seems all alike ? The cause lies not in a difference of depth : for the tracts that teem with life are variable in this respect, sometimes only a few fathoms in profundity, and sometimei unfathomable. 232 THE OCEAN WAIFS. The true explanation must be sought for elsewhere. 1< will be found not in depth, but in direction, in the direc- tion of the currents. Every one knows that the great oceans are intersected here and there by currents, often hundreds of miles in breadth, but sometimes narrowing to a width of as many "knots." These oceanic streams are regular, though not regularly defined. They are not caused by mere temporary storms, but by winds having a constant and regular direc- tion ; as the " trades " in the Atlantic and Pacific, the " mon- soons " in the Indian Ocean, the " pamperos " of South Amer- ica, and the " northers " of the Mexican Gulf. There is another cause for these currents, perhaps of more powerful influence than the winds, yet less taken into ac- count. It is the spinning of the earth on its axis. Un- doubtedly are the " trades " indebted to this for their direc tion towards the west, the simple centrifugal tendency of the atmosphere. Otherwise, would these winds blow due northward and southward, coming into collision on the line of the equator. But it is not my purpose to attempt a dissertation either on winds or oceanic streams. I am not learned enough for this, though enough to know that great misconception pre- vails on this subject, as well as upon that of the tides ; and that meteorologists have not given due credit to the revolv- ing motion of our planet, which is in truth the principal pro- ducer of these phenomena. "Why I have introduced the subject at all is, not because our little book is peculiarly a book of the ocean, but, because that ocean currents have much to do with " Ocean Waifs," and that these last afford the true explanation of the phe- nomenon first mentioned, the fact that some parts of the ocean teem with animal life, while others are as dead as a desert. The currents account fcr it, thus : where two of them meet, as is often the case, vast quantities of THE THICK WATERS. 238 material substances, both vegetable and animal, are drifted together ; where they are held, to a certain extent, station- ary ; or circling around in great ocean eddies. The wrack of sea-weed, waifs from the distant shores, birds that have fallen lifeless into the ocean, or drop their excrement to float on its surface, fish that have died of disease, vio- lence, or naturally, for the finny tribes are not exempt from the natural laws of decay and death, all these organ- isms, drifted by the currents, meet upon the neutral " ground," there to float about, and furnish food to myriads of living creatures, many species of which are, to all appearance, scarce organized more highly than the decomposed matters that appear first to give them life, and afterwards sustain their existence. In such tracts of the ocean are found the lower marine animals, in incalculable numbers ; the floating shell-fish, as Janthina, ffyalaa, and Cleodora ; the sea-lizards, as Velellee, Porpitce, and their kindred ; the squids, and other mollusks ; r jrith myriads of medusas. These are the oceanic regions known to the sailors as " thick waters," the favorite resort of the whale and its con- comitant creatures, whose food they furnish ; the shark, and its attendants ; the dolphins, porpoises, sword- and flying- fish ; with other denizens of the water ; and a like vai rt ty of dwellers in the air, hovering above the surface, either as the enemies of those below, or aids to assist tl^ru in composing the inscrutable " chain of destruction." &>* THE OCEAN WAIFS. CHAPTER LXV A WHALE ON FIRF, ! PERHAPS we have drifted too far adown the currents of the ocean. From our digression let us return to out special " Waifs." We left them making preparations to roast the shark-flesh, not in single steaks, but in a wholesale fashion, as if they had intended to prepare a " fish dinner " for the full crew of a frigate. As already stated, fuel they had in sufficiency ; or, at all events, the best of oil, that would serve as such. The sper- maceti could not be readily kindled, nor its blaze kept up, without wicks. But neither was there any difficulty about this. There was a quantity of old rope trash on the raft, which had been fished up among the wreck of the Pandora, and kept in case of an emergency. It needed only to re- store this to its original state of tarry fibre, when they would be provided with wick enough to keep the lamp long burning. It was the lamp itself, or rather the cooking fur- nace, that caused them uneasiness. They had none. The tiny tin vessel that had already served for a single meal would never do for the grand roti they now designed making With it, along with time and patience, they might have ac- complished the task ; but time to them was too precious to be so wasted ; and as to patience, circumstanced as they were, it could scarcely be expected. They stood in great need of a cooking-stove. There waa nothing on board the Catamaran that could be used as a substitute. Indeed, to have kindled such a fire as they wanted on the raft, without a proper material for their hearth, would have seriously endangered the existence of the craft ; and might have terminated in a conflagration. It was a dilemma that fiad not suggested itself sooner, A WHALE ON FIRE. 235 that is, until the shark-steaks had been made ready for roasting. Then it presented itself to their contemplation in full force, and apparently without any loophole to escape from it. What was to be done for a cooking-stove ? Snowball sighed as he thought of his caboose, with all its paraphernalia of pots and pans, especially his great cop- per, in which he had been accustomed to boil mountains of meat and oceans of pea-soup. But Snowball was not the individual to give way to vain regrets, at least, not for long. Despite that absence of that superior intellect, which flippant gossips of so-called " Social Science " delight in denying to his race,, themselves often less gifted than he, Snowball was endowed with rare ingenuity, especially in matters relating to the cuisine, and in less than ten minutes after the question of a cooking- stove had been started, the Coromantee conceived the idea of one that might have vied with any of the various " pa- tents " so loudly extolled by the ironmongers, and yet not so effective when submitted to the test. At all events, Snowball's plan was suited to the circumstances in which its contriver was placed ; and perhaps it was the only one which the circumstances would have allowed. Unlike other inventors, the Coromantee proclaimed th< plan of his invention as soon as he had conceived it. " Wha' for ? " he asked, as the idea shaped itself in his skull, " wha' for we trouble 'bout a pot fo' burn de oil ? " " What for, Snowy ! " echoed the sailor, turning upon his interrogator an expectant look. " Why we no make de fire up hya ? " The conversation was carried on upon the back of the whale, where the sharks had been butchered and cut up. u Up here ! " again echoed the sailor, still showing surprise. M What matter whether it be up here or down theear, so long ' we 've got no vessel, n,cyther pot nor pan ? " 236 THE OCEAN WAIFS. " Dean care a dam fo' neyder," responded the ex-cook. " I 'se soon show ye, Mass' Brace, how we find vessel, big 'nuff to hold all de oil in de karkiss ob de ole cashlot, as you call him." " Explain, nigger, explain ! " " Sartin I do. Gib me dat axe. I soon 'splain de whole sarkumstance." Ben passed the axe, which he had been holding, into the hands of the Coromantee. The latter, as he had promised, soon made his meaning clear, by setting to work upon the carcass of the cachalot^ and with less than a dozen blows of the sharp-edged tool hollowing out a large cavity in the blubber. " Now, Mass' Brace," cried he, when he had finished, tri- umphantly balancing the axe above his shoulder, " wha' you call dat ? Dar 's a lamp hold all de oil we want set blaze. You d'sire me ' crow ' de hole any wida or deepa, I soon make 'im deep 's a draw-well an' wide as de track ob a wag- gon. Wha' say, Mass' Brace ? " " Hurraw for you, Snowy ! It be just the thing. I dar say it 's deep enough, and wide as we '11 want it. You ha' got good brains, nigger, not'ithstanding what them lubbers as they call filosaphurs say. I 'm a white, an' niver thought o' it. This '11 do for the furness we want. Nothin' more needed than to pour the sparmacety into it, chuck a bit o' oakum on the top, an' set all ablaze. Let 's do it, and cook the wittles at once." The cavity, which Snowball had " crowed " in the car- cass of the whale was soon filled with oil taken from the case. In this was inserted with due care a quantity of the fibre, obtained by " picking " the old ropes into oakum. A crane was next erected over the cavity, a handspike forming one support and an oar the other. The crane itself consisted of the long iron arrow and socket of one of the bar peons found in the carcass of the cachalot. THE BIG RAFT. 2JTJ Upon this was suspended, as upon a spit, so E..any slices of shark-meat as could be accommodated with room and when all was arranged, a " taper " was handed up from be- low, and the wick set on fire. The tarry strands caught like tinder; and soon after a tiorce bright blaze was seen rising several feet above the back of the cachalot, causing the shark-steaks to frizzle and fry, and promising in a very short space of time to " do them to a turn." Any one who could have witnessed the spectacle from distance, and not understanding its nature, might have fan cied that the whale was on fire ! CHAPTER LXVI THE BIO RAPT. WHILE the strange phenomenon of a blazing fire upon the back of a whale was being exhibited to the eyes of ocean-birds and ocean-fishes, all doubtless wondering what it meant, another and very different spectacle was occurring scarce twenty miles from the spot, of course also upon the surface of the ocean. If in the former there was something that might be called comic, there was nothing of this in the latter. On the con- trary, it was a true tragedy, a drama of death. The stage upon which it was being enacted was a platform of planks and spars, rudely united together, in short, a raft. The dramatis personce were men, all men ; although it might have required some stretch of imagination, aided by a little acquaintanceship with the circumstances that had placed them upon thakraft, to have been certain tfcst they 238 THE OCEAN WAIFS. were human beings. A stranger to them, looking upon them in reality, or upon a picture, giving a faithful representa- tion of them, might have doubted their humanity, and mistaken them for Jiends. No one could have been blamed for such a misconception. If human beings in shape, and so in reality, thtry were fiends in aspect, and not far from it in mental conformation. Even in appearance they were more like skeletons than men. One actually was a skeleton, not a living skeleton, but a corpse, clean stripped of its flesh. The ensanguined bones, with some fragments of the cartilage still adhering to them, showed that the despoliation had been recent. The skeleton was not perfect. Some of the bones were absent. A few were lying near on the timbers of the raft, and a few others might have been seen in places where it was horrible to behold them ! The raft was an oblong platform of some twenty feet in length by about fifteen in width. It was constructed out of pieces of broken masts and spars of a ship, upon which was supported an irregular sheeting of planks, the fragments of bulwarks, hatches, cabin-doors that had been wrested from their hinges, lids of tea-chests, coops, and a few other arti- cles, such as form the paraphernalia of movables on board a ship. There was a large hogshead with two or three -email barrels upon the raft ; and around its edge were lashed several emptj casks, serving as buoys to keep it above water A single spar stood up out of its centre, or " mid- ships," to which was rigged in a very slovenly manner a large lateen sail, either the spanker or spritsail of a ship, or the mizzen topsail of a bark. Around the " step " of the mast a variety of other objects might have been seen : such as oars, handspikes, pieces of loose boards, some tangled coils of rope, an axe or two, half a dozen tin pots and " tots," such as are used by sail- ors, a quantity of slm k-bones clean picked, with two ot THE BIG RAFT. 233 tLree other bone?, like th*.-^ already alluded to, and whose size and form told them to be the tibia of a human skele- ton. Between twenty and thirty men were moving amid this miscellaneous collection, not all moving : for they were in every conceivable attitude, of repose as of action. Some were seated, some lying stretched, some standing, some stag- gering, as if reeling under the influence of intoxication, or too feeble to support their bodies in an erect attitude. It was not any rocking on the part of the raft that was pro- ducing these eccentric movements. The sea was perfectly quiescent, and the rude embarkation rested upon it like a log. The cause might have been discovered near the bottom of the mast, where stood a barrel or cask of medium size, from which proceeded an exhalation, telling its contents to be rum. The staggering skeletons were drunk! It was not that noisy intoxication that tells of recent in- dulgence, but rather of the nervous wreck which succeeds it ; and the words heard, instead of being the loud banterings of inebriated men, were more like the ravings and gibbering of maniacs. No wonder : since they who uttered them were mad, mad with mania potu! If they were ever to recover, it would be the last time they were likely to be afflicted by the same disease, at least on board that embarkation. Not from any virtuous resolve on their parts, but simply from the fact that the cause of their insanity no longer existed. The rum-cask was as dry inside as out. There was no longer a drop of the infernal liquor on tie raft ; no more spirit of any kind to produce fresh drunkenness or renewed delirium tremens! The madmen were not heeded by the others ; but allowed to totter about, and give speech to their incoherent mum- blings, sometimes diversified by yells, or peals of 240 THE OCEAN WAIFS. laughter, always thickly interlarded with oaths and othe blasphemous utterances. It was only when disturbing the repose of some one less exalted than themselves, or when two of them chanced to come into collision, that a scene would ensue, in some in- stances extending to almost every individual on the raft, and ending by one or other of the delirious disputants getting u chucked " into the sea, and having a swim before recover- ing foothold on the frail embarkation. This the ducked individual would be certain to do. Drunk as he might have been, and maudlin as he might be, his instincts were never so benumbed as to render him regardless of self-preserva- tion. Even from out his haggard eyes still gleamed enough of intelligence to tell that those dark triangular objects, moving in scores around the raft, and cutting the water, so swift and sheer, were the dorsal fins of the dreaded sharks. Each one was a sight that, to a sailor's eye, even when " blind drunk," brings habitual dread. The douche, and the fright attending it, would usually re- store his reason to the delirious individual, or, at all events, would have the effect of restoring tranquillity upon the raft, soon after to be disturbed by some scene of like, or perhaps more terrible, activity. ***** The reader, unacquainted with the history of this raft and the people upon it, may require some information concerning them. A few words must suffice for both. As already stated, at the beginning of our narrative, a raft was constructed out of such timbers as could be de- tached from the slave-bark Pandora, after that vessel had caught fire, and previous to her blowing up. Upon this embarkation the slaver's crew had escaped, leaving hercaryo to perish, some by the explosion, some by drowning, and not a few by the teeth of sharks. The Pandora's captain, along with five others, including the mates and carpenter, THE BIG RAFT. 241 Lad stolen away with the gig. As this was the only boat found available in the fearful crisis of the conflagration, the remainder of the crew had betaken themselves to the large raft, hurriedly constructed for the occasion. As already related, Snowball and the Portuguese girl were the only individuals on board the Pandora who had remained by the wreck, or rather among its debris. There the Coromantee, by great courage and cunning, had succeeded not only in keeping himself and his protege afloat, but in es- tablishing a chance for sustaining existence, calculated to last for some days. It is known also that Ben Brace with his protege, having been informed by the captain's parting speech that there was a barrel of gunpowder aboard the buining bark, apprehensive of the explosion, had silently constructed a little raft of his own ; which, after being launched from under the bows of the slaver, he had brought n rapport with the " big raft," and thereto attached it. This " tender," still carrying the English sailor and the boy, had been afterwards cut loose from its larger com- panion in the dead hour of night, and permitted to fall far into the wake. The reason of this defection was simply to save little William from being eaten up by the ex-crew of the Pandora, then reduced to a famished condition, if we may use the phrase, screwed up to the standard of anthro- pophagy. Since the hour in which the two rafts became separated from each other, the reader is acquainted, in all its minute details, with the history of the lesser : how it joined issue with the embarkation that carried the ex-cook and his pro- ?ge ; how the union with the latter produced a cross be ,ween the two, afterwards yclept the Catamaran; with all the particulars of the Catamaran's voyage, up to the tune when she became moored alongside the carcass of the cachalot ; and for several days after. During this time, the, " big raft " carrying the crew of th< u r 242 THE OCEAN WAIFS. burnt bark, being out of sight, may also have es>,aped from the reader's mind. Both it and its occupants were still in existence. Not all of them, it is true, but the greater number ; and .unong these, the most prominent in strength of body, energy of mind, and wickedness of disposition. It is scarce necessary to say, that the raft now introduced as lying upon the ocean some twenty miles from the dead cachalot, was that which some days before had parted from the Pandora, or that the fiendish forms that occupied it were the remnant of the Pandora's crew. These were not all there : nearly a score of them were absent. The absence of the captain, with five others who had accompanied him in his gig, has been explained. The ex-cook, the English sailor and sailor-boy, with the cabin passenger, Lilly Lalee, have also been accounted for ; but there were several others aboard the big raft, on its first starting " to sea," that were no longer to be seen amidst the crowd still occupying this ungainly embarkation. Half a dozen, perhaps more, seemed to be missing. Their absence might have appeared mysterious, to any one who had not been kept " posted " up in the particulars of the ill- directed cruise through which the raft had been passing ; though the skeleton above described, and the dissevered tibia scattered around, might have given a clew to their disappearance, at least, to any one initiated into the shifts and extremities of starvation. To those of less experience, or less quick comprehension, it may be necessary to repeat the conversation which waa being carried on upon the raft, at the moment when it is thus reintroduced to the notice of the reader. A correcl report of this will satisfactorily explain why its original crevr had been reduced, from over thirty, to the number of sut-and twenty, exclusive of the skeleton 1 A GREW OF CANNIBALS. 244 CHAPTER LXVII. A CREW OF CANNIBALS. * ffLLONS!" cried a black-bearded man, in whose *'* emaciated frame it was not easy to recognize the once corpulent bully of the slave-ship, the Frenchman, Le Gros. "Allans! messieurs! It's time to try fortune again. Sacre ! we must eat, or die ! " The question may be asked, What were these men to eat ? There appeared to be no food upon the raft. There wa* none, not a morsel of any kind that might properly be called meat for man. Nor had there been, ever since the second day after the departure of the raft from the side of the burning bark. A small box of sea-biscuits, that, when distributed, gave only two to each man, was all that had been saved in their hurried retreat from the decks of the Pandora. These had disappeared in a day. They had brought away water in greater abundance, and caught some since in their shirts, and on the spread sail, nearly after the same fashion and in the same rain-storm that had afforded the well-timed supply to Ben Brace and his protege. But the stock derived from both sources was on the eve of being exhausted. Only a small ration or two to each man remained in the cask ; but thirsty as most of them might be, they were suffering still more from the kindred appetite of bunger. What did Le Gros mean when he said they must eat ? What food was there on the raft, to enable them to avoid the terrible alternative appended to his proposal, " eat, or die" ? What had kept them from dying : since it was now many days, almost weeks, since they had swallowed the last morsel of biscuit so sparingly distributed amongst them ? The answer to all .these interrogatories is one and thi 244 THE OOEAN WAIFS. eame. It is too fearful to be pronounced, avjful even to think of! The clean-stripped skeleton lying upon the raft, and which vras clearly that of a human being ; the bones scattered about, some of them, as already observed, held in hand, and in 3uch fashion as to show the horrid use that was being made of them, left no doubt as to the nature of the food upon which the hungering wretches had been subsisting. This, and the flesh of a small shark, which they had suc- ceeded in luring alongside, and killing with the blow of a handspike, had been their only provision since parting with the Pandora. There were sharks enough around them now. A score, at the very least, might have been quarter- ing the sea, within sight of the raft; but these monsters, strange to say, were so shy, that not one of them would ap- proach near enough to allow them an opportunity of captur- ing it ! Every attempt to take them had proved unsuc- cessful. Such of the crew as kept sober had been trying for days. Some were even at that moment engaged with hook and line, angling for the ferocious fish, their hooks floating far out in the water, baited with human flesh ! It was only the mechanical continuation of a scheme thai had long since proved to be of no avail, a sort of despair ing struggle against improbability. The sharks had taken the alarm ; perhaps from observing the fate of that one of their number that had gone too near the odd embarkation ; or, perhaps, warned by some mysterious instinct, that, sooner or later, they would make a grand banquet on those who were so eager to feast upon them. In any case, no sharks had been taken, or were likely to b taken ; and once more the eyes of the famishing casta- ways were wolfishly turned upon one another, while their thoughts reverted to that horrible alternative that was to save them from starvation. I^e Gros on board the raft, as upon the deck of tbf A CREW OF CANNIBALS. 245 lave-ship still held a sort of fatal ascendency over hia comrades; and with Ben Brace no longer to oppose his des- potic propensities, he had established over his fellow-skele- tons a species of arbitrary rule. His conduct had all along been guided by no more regard for fair-play than was just necessary to keep his subordi- nates from breaking out into open mutiny ; and among these the weaker ones fared even worse than their fellows, bad aa that was. A few of the stronger, who formed a sort of body guard to the bully, and were ready to stand up for him in case of extremity, shared his ascendency over the rest; and to these were distributed larger rations of water, along with the more choice morsels of their horrid food. This partiality had more than once led to scenes, that promised to end in bloodshed ; and but for this occasional show of resistance, Le Gros and his party might have estab- lished a tyranny that would have given them full power over the lives of their feebler companions. Things were fast tending in this direction, merging, as it were, into absolute monarchy, a monarchy of " canni- bals," of which Le Gros himself would be " king." It had not yet, however, quite come to that, at least when it be- came a question of life and death. When the necessity arose of finding a fresh victim for their horrible but neces- sary sacrifice, there was still enough republicanism left among the wretches to influence the decision in a just and equitable manner, and cause the selection to be made by lot. When it comes to crises like these, to questions of life and death, men must yield up their opposition to the battot, and acknowledge its equity. Le Gros and his cruel body-guard would have opposed it had they been strong enough, as do equally cruel politi- cians who are strong enough, but the bully still doubted (he strength of his party; A. proposal so atrocious 246 THE OCEAN WAIFS. made , in the case of little William, at the very outset, and had met with but slight opposition. Had it not been foi^the brave English sailor, the lad would certainly have fallen a sacrifice to the horrid appetites of these horrid men. With one of themselves, however, the case was different. Each had a few adherents, who would not have submitted to such an arbitrary cruelty ; and Le Gros was influenced by the fear of a general " skrimmage," in which more than one life, among the rest perhaps his own, might be forfeited. The time for such a high-handed measure had not yet arrived ; and when it came to the question of " Who dies next ? " it was still found necessary to resort to the ballot. That question was once more propounded, now for the third time, Le Gros himself acting as the spokesman. No one said anything in reply, or made any sign of being opposed to an answer being given. On the contrary, all appeared to yield, if not a cheerful, at least a tacit assent to what they all knew to be meant for a proposal, knowing also its fearful nature and consequences. They also comprehended whence the answer was to come. Twice before had they consulted that dread oracle, whose response was certain death to one of their number. Twice before had they recognized and submitted to its decree. No preliminaries needed to be discussed. These had been long ago arranged. There was nothing more to do than cast the lots. On the moment after Le Gros had put the question, a movement was visible among the men to whom it was ad- dressed. One might have expected it to startle them ; but It did not appear to do this, at least, to any great extent. Some only showed those signs of fear distinguishable by blanched cheeks and white lips ; but there were some too delirious to understand the full import of what was to fol- low ; And the majority of the crew had become too calkmi with suffering to care much even for life J A CREW OF CANNIBALS. 247 Most that could, however, for there were some too fee- ble to stand erect, rose to their feet, and gathered around the challenger, exhibiting both in their words and attitudes, an earnestness that told them not altogether indifferent to death. By a sort of tacit agreement among them, Le Gros acted as master of the ceremonies, the dispenser of that dread lottery of life and death, in which he himself was to take a share. Two or three of his fellows stood on each side of him, acting as aids or croupiers. Solemn and momentous as was the question to be decided, the mode of decision was simple in the extreme. Le Gros held in his hand a canvas bag, of oblong bolster shape, such as sailors use to carry their spare suit of " Sunday go-ashores." In the bottom of this bag, already carefully counted into it, were twenty-six buttons : the exact number of those who were to take part in the drawing. They were the common black buttons of horn, each pierced with four holes, such as may be seen upon the jacket of the merchant sailor. They had been cut from their own garments for the purpose in which they were now, a third time, to be employed, and all chosen so exactly alike, that even the eye would have found it difficult to distinguish one from the other. One, however, offered an exception to this statement. While all its fellows were jet black, it exhibited a reddish hue, a dark crimson, as if it had been defiled with blood. And so it had been ; stained on purpose, that for which it was to be employed, to be the exponent of the prize, in that lottery of blood, of which its color was an appropriate emblem. The difference between it and the others was not percep- tible to the touch. The fingers of a man born blind could not have distinguished it among the rest, much less the callous and tar-bedaubed " claws " of a sailor. The red button was cast into the bag along with Ihe others. Uie who should draw it forth must die ! 248 TITE OCEAN WAIFS. As we have said, there, was no settling about preliminaries no talking about choice as to the time of drawing. Thes matters had been discussed before, both openly and by secret mental calculations. All had arrived at the conclusion that tb.3 chances were even, and that it could make no difference in the event as to whose fate was first decided. The red button might be the last in the bag, or it might be the first drawn out of it. Under this impression, no one hesitated to inaugurate the dread ceremony of the drawing ; and as soon as Le Gros held out the bag, just open enough to admit a hand, a man stepped up, and, with an air of reckless indifference, plunged his arm into the opening! CHAPTER LXVIII. THE LOTTERY OF LIFE AND DEATH. ONE by one the buttons were drawn forth from the bag, each man, as he drew his, exhibiting it in his open palm, to satisfy the others as to its color, and then placing it in a common receptacle, against the contingency of ita being required again for another like lottery ! Solemn as was the character of the ceremony, it was not conducted either in solemnity or silence. Many of the wretches even jested while it was in progress ; and a stranger to the dread conditions under which the drawing was being made might have supposed it a raffle for some trifling prize ! The faces of a few, however, would have contradicted this supposition. A few there were who approached the oracle with cowed and craven looks ; and their trembling THE LOTTERY OF LIFE AND DEATH. 249 dngtrs, as they inserted them into the bag, proclaimed an apprehension stronger than could have arisen from any mere co irting of chance in an ordinary casting of lots. Those men who were noisiest and most gleeful after they had drawn were the ones who before it had shown the strongest sigas of fear, and who trembled most while per- forming the operation. Some of them could not conceal even their demoniac joy at having drawn blank, but danced about over the raft as if they had suddenly succeeded to some splendid fortune. The difference between this singular lottery and most others, was that the blanks were the prizes, the prize itself being the true blank, the ending of existence. Le Gros continued to hold the bag, and with an air of nonchalance ; though any one closely observing his counte- nance could tell that it was assumed. As had been already proved, the French bully was at heart a coward. Under the influence of angry passion, or excited by a desire for revenge, he could show fight, and even fling himself into positions of danger ; but in a contest such as that in which he was now engaged a cool strife, in which Fortune was his only antagonist, and in which he could derive no advan- tage from any unfair subterfuge, his artificial courage had entirely forsaken him. So long as the lottery was in its earlier stages, and only a few buttons had been taken out of the bag, ho preserved his assumed air of indifference. There were still many chances of life against that one of death, nearly twenty to one. As the drawing proceeded, however, and one after another exhibited his black button, a change could be ob- served passing over the features of the Frenchman. His apparent sangfroid began to forsake him ; while his glano^s betokened a faverish excitement, fast hastening towards ap- prehension. As each fresh hand came up out of the dark receptacle; 11* 250 THE OCEAN WAIFS. bearing the evidence of its owner's fate, Le Gros was seen to cast hurried and anxious glances towards the tiny circle of horn, held between the thumb and forefinger, and each time that he saw the color to be black his countenance appeared to darken at the sight. When the twentieth button had been brought forth, and etill the red one remained in the bag, the master of the cere- monies became fearfully excited. He could no longer con- ceal his apprehension. His chances of life were diminished to a point that might well inspire him with fear. It was now but six to one, for there were only six more tickets to be disposed of. At this crisis, Le Gros interrupted the drawing to reflect. Would he be in a better position, if some one else held the bag? Perhaps that might change the run of luck hitherto against him ; and which he had been cursing with all his might ever since the number had been going through the teens. He had tried every way he could think of to tempt the red ticket out of the bag. He had shaken the buttons time after time, in hopes of bringing it to the top, or in some position that might insure its being taken up. But all to no purpose. It would obstinately stay to the last. What difference could it make were he to hand the bag over to some other holder, and try his luck for the twenty- first chance ? " Not any ! " was the mental reply he re- ceived to this mental inquiry. Better for him to hold on as he had been doing. It was hardly possible at least highly improbable that the red button should be the last. There had been twenty-five chances to one against its being so. It is true twenty black buttons had been drawn out before it, in a most unexpected manner, still it was as likely to come next as any of the remaining six. It would be of no use changing the process, so con- cluded he, in his own mind, and, with an air of affected recklessness, the Frenchman signified to those around him that he was ready to continue the drawing. THE LOTTERY OF LIFE AND DEATH. 251 Another man drew forth No. 21. Like those preceding It, the button was black ! No. 22 was fished out of the bag, black also ! 23 and 24 were of the like hue ! But two buttons now remained, two men onl} whoM fate was undecided. One of them was Le Gros himself, the other, an Irish sailor, who was, perhaps, the least wicked among that wicked crew. One or other of them must be- come food for their cannibal comrades ! It would scarce be true to say that the interest increased as the dread lottery progressed towards its ending. Its peculiar conditions had secured an interest from the first ag intense as it was possible for it to be. It only became changed in character, less selfish, if we may use the phrase, as each individual escaped from the dangerous contingency involved in the operation As the drawing approached its termination, the anxiety about the result, though less painful to the majority of the men, was far more so to the few whose fate still hung sus- pended in the scale ; and this feeling became more intensi- fied in the breasts of the still smaller number, who saw their chances of safety becoming constantly diminished. When, at length, only two buttons remained in the bag, and only two men to draw them out, the interest, though changed in character, was nevertheless sufficiently exciting to fix the attention of every individual on the raft. There were circumstances, apart from the mere drawing, that influenced this attention. Fate itself seemed to be tak- ing a part in the dread drama ; or, if not, a very singular contingency had occurred. Between the two men, thus left to decide its decree, there existed a rivalry, or, rather, might it be called a positive antipathy, deadly as any vendetta ever enacted on Corei- can soil. It had not sprung up on the raft. It was of older date, 252 THE OCEAN WAIFS. old as the earliest days of the Pandora's voyage, on whost decks it had originated. Its first seeds had been sown in that quarrel between Le Gros and Ben Brace, in which the Frenchman had been so ignominio^isly defeated. The Irish sailor, partly from some slight feeling of co-nationality, and partly from a natu- ral instinct of fair play, had taken sides with the British tar ; and, as a consequence, had invoked the hostility of the French- man. This feeling he had reciprocated to its full extent ; and from that time forward Larry O'Gorman such was the Irishman's name became the true bete noir of Le Gros, to be insulted by the latter on every occasion that might offer. Even Ben Brace was no longer regarded with as much dislike. For him the Frenchman had been taught, if not friendship, at least, a certain respect, springing from fear ; and, instead of continuing his jealous rivalry towards the English sailor, Le Gros had resigned himself to occupy a secondary place on the slaver, and transferred his spite to the representative of the Emerald Isle. More than once, slight collisions had occurred between them, in which the Frenchman, gifted with greater cun- ning, had managed to come off victorious. But there had never arisen any serious matter to test the strength of tho two men to that desperate strife, of which death might be the ending. They had generally fought shy of each other ; the Frenchman from a latent fear of his adversary, founded, perhaps, on some suspicion of powers not yet exhibited by him, and which might be developed in a deadly struggle, the Irishman from a habitude, not very common among his countrymen, of being little addicted to quarrelling. He was, on the contrary, a man of peaceful disposition, and of few words, also a rare circumstance, considering that his name was Larry O'Gorman. There were some good traits in Ihe Irishman's character Perhaps we have given the best. In comparison with th A LOTTERY OF LIFE AND DEATH. 258 Frenchman, he might be described as an angel ; and, com- pared with the other wretches on the raft, he was, perhaps, the least bad: for the word best could not, with propriety, bfl applied to any one of that motley crew. Personally, the two men were unlike as could well be. "While the Frenchman was black and bearded, the Irishman was red and almost beardless. In size, however, they ap- proximated nearer to each other, both being men of large stature. Both had been stout, almost corpulent. Neither could be so described as they assisted at that sol- emn ceremonial that was to devote one or other of them to a doom in which their condition was a circumstance of significant interest to those who were to survive them. Both were shrunken in shape, with their garments hanging loosely around their bodies, their eyes sunk in deep cavities, their cheek-bones prominently protruding, their breasts flat and fleshless, the ribs easily discernible, in short, they ap- peared more like a pair of skeletons, covered with shrivelled skin, than breathing, living men. Either was but ill-adapted for the purpose to which dire necessity was about to devote one or other of them. Of the two, Le Gros appeared the less attenuated. This may have arisen from the fact of his greater ascendency over the crew of the raft, by means of which he had been en- abled to appropriate to himself a larger share of the food sparsely distributed amongst them. His ample covering of hair may have had something to do with this appearance, concealing as it did the unevenness of the surface upon which it grew, and imparting a plumper aspect to his lace and fea- tures. If there was a superiority in the quantity of flesh still clinging to his bones, its quality might be questioned, at all events, in regard to the use that might soon be made of it In point of tenderness, his muscular integuments could scarce- ly compare with thosQ-of the Irishman, whose bright skip promised 254 THE OCEAN WAIFS. These are horrid thoughts. They should not be here repeated, were it not to show in its true light the terrible extremes, both of thought and action, to which men may b reduced by starvation. Horrid as they may appear, they were entertained at that crisis by the castaway crew of the Pandora 1 CHAPTER LXIX. A CHALLENGE DECLINED. WHEN it came to the last drawing, for there need- ed to be only one more, there was a pause in the proceeding?, such as usually precedes an expected climax. It was accompanied by silence ; so profound that, but for the noise made by the waves as they dashed against the hol- low hogsheads, a pin might have been heard if dropped upon the planking of the raft. In the sound of the sea there was something lugubrious : a fit accompaniment of the unhal- lowed scene that was being enacted by those within hearing of it. One might have fancied that spirits in fearful pain were confined within the empty casks, and that the sourds that seemed to issue out of them were groans elicited by their agony. The two men, one of whom was doomed to die, stood face to face ; the others forming a sort of circle around them. All eyes were bent upon them, while theirs were fixed only upon each other. The reciprocated glance was one of dire hostility and hate, combined with a hope on the part of each to see the other dead, and then to survive him. Both were inspired by a belief in the presence of such n unexpected contingency it was not unreasonable that A CHALLENGE DECLINED. 255 Fate had singled them out from their fellows to stand in that itrange antagonism. They were, in fact, convinced of it. Under the influence of this conviction, it might be sup- posed tha* neither would offer any further opposition to Fate's decree, but would yield to what might appear theh u manifest destiny." As it was, however, fatalism was not the faith of either. Though neither of them could lay claim to the character of Christian, they were equally unbelievers in this particular article of the creed of Mahomet; and both were imbued with a stronger belief in strength or stratagem than ir chance. On the first-mentioned the Irishman appeared most to rely, as was evidenced by the proposal he made upon the occasion. " I dar yez," said he, " to thry which is the best man. To dhraw them buttons is an even chance bitwcen us ; an' maybe the best man is him that '11 have to die. By Saint Patrhick ! that is n't fair, nohow. The best man should be allowed to live. Phwat div yez say, comrades ? " The proposal, though unexpected by all, found partisans who entertained it. It put a new face upon the affair. It was one that was not more than reasonable. The crew, no longer interested in the matter, at least, so far as their own personal safety was concerned, could now contemplate the result with calmness ; and the instinct of justice was not dead within the hearts of all of them. In the challenge of the Irishman there appeared nothing unfair. A number of them were inclined to entertain it, and declared themselves of that view. The partisans of Le Gros were the more numerous ; and these remained silent, waiting until the latter should make reply to the proposal of his antagonist. After the slight luck he had already experienced in the lottery, combined with several partial defeats erst in- flicted upon the man who thus challenged him, it might 256 TH OCEAN WAIFS. have been expected that Le Gros would have gladly ac cepted the challenge. He did not. On the contrary, he showed such an inclina* tion to trust to chance, that a close observer of his looks and actions might have seen cause to suspect that he had also gome reliance upon stratagem. No one, however, had been thus closely observing him. No one except the individual immediately concerned had noticed that quick grasp of hands between him and one of his partisans ; or, if they had, it was only to interpret it as a salute of sympathy, extended towards a comrade in a situation of danger. In that salute, however, there passed between the two men something of significance ; which, if exhibited to the eyes of the spectators, would have explained the indifference to death that from that moment characterized the demeanor of Le Gros. After that furtive movement, he no longer showed any hesitancy as to his course of action ; but at once declared his willingness, as well as his determination, to abide by the decision of the drawing. " Sacre ! " cried he, in answer to the challenge of the Irishman ; " you don't suppose, Monsieur Irlandais, that I should fear the result as you propose it ? Parbleu ! nobody will believe that. But I'm a believer in Fortune, not- withstanding the scurvy tricks she has often served me, ever, now that she is frowning upon me black as ever. Neither of us appears to be in favor with her, and that will make our chances equal. So then, I say, let us try her again. Sacre ! it will be the last time she can frown on one of us, that 's certain." As O'Gorman had no right to alter the original pro gramme of the lottery, of course the dissenting voices to its continuance were in the minority ; and the general clamor tailed upon fate to decide which of the two men was to become food for their famishing companions. A CHALLENGE DECLINED. 257 Le Gros still held the bag containing the two buttons. One of them should be black, the other red. It became a subject of dispute, which was to make the draw. It was not a question of who should draw first, since one button taken out would be sufficient If the red one came out, the drawer must die ; if the black, then the other must become the victim. Some proposed that a third party should hold the bag, and that tLere should be a toss up for the first chance. Le Gros showed a disposition to oppose this plan. He said that, as he had been intrusted with the superintendence so far, he should continue it to the end. They all saw, so urged he, that he had not benefited by the office imposed upon him ; but the contrary. It had brought nothing but ill-luck to him ; and, as everybody knew, when a run of ill- luck once sets in, there was no knowing where it might ter- minate. He did not care much, one way or the other : since there could be no advantage in his holding the bag ; but as he had done so all through, as he believed to his disadvantage, he was willing to hold on, even if it was death that was to be his award. The speech of Le Gros had the desired effect. The majority declared themselves in favor of his continuing to hold the bag ; and it was decided that the Irishman should make choice of the penultimate button. The latter offered no opposition to this arrangement. There appeared no valid grounds for objecting to it. It was a simple toss of heads and tails, " Heads I win, and tails you lose " ; or, to make use of a formula more appropriate to the occasion, " Heads I live, and tails you die." With some such process of reasoning current through the brain of Larry O'Gorman, he stepped boldly up to the bag ; plunged his fist into its obscure interior ; and drew forth the blacl button! 258 THE OCEAN WAIF* CHAPTER LXX. AN UNEXPECTED TERMINATION. THE red button remained in the bag. It was a singv* lar circumstance that it should be the last ; but suck strange circumstances will sometimes occur. It belonged to Le Gros. The lottery was over ; the Frenchman had for feited life. It seemed idle for him to draw the button out ; and yret, to the astonishment of the spectators, he proceeded to rlo so. " Sacre ! " he exclaimed, " the luck 's been against me. Eh trien ! " he added, with a sangfroid that caused some surprise, " I suppose I must make a die of it. Let me see the accursed thing that 's going to condemn me ! " As he said this, he held up the bag in his left hand, at the sam* time plunging his right into its dark interior. For some seconds he appeared to grope about, as if he had some difficulty in finding the button. While fumbling in this fashion he let go the mouth of the wallet, which he had been holding in his left hand, adroitly transferring his hold to its bottom. This was done apparently for the purpose of getting the button into a corner, in order that he might lay hold of it with his fingers. For some moments the bag rested upon his left fore- arm, while he continued his hunt after the little piece of horn. He appeared successful at length ; and drew forth his right hand, with the fingers closed over the palm, as if containing something, of course the dread symbol of death. Stirred by a kind of curiosity, his comradea pressed mechanically around, and stood watching his move- ments. For an inptant he kept his fist closed, holding it on high AN UNEXPECTED TERMINATION. 259 to that all might see it: and then, slowly extending his fingers, he exhibited his spread palm before their eyes. It held the button that he had drawn forth from the bag ; but, to the astonishment of all, it was a black one, and not the red token that had been expected! There were but two men who did not partake of this surprise. One was Le Gros himself, though, to all ap- pearance, he was the most astonished individual of the party, the other was the man who, some minutes before, might have been observed standing by his side, and stealthily transferring something from his own fingers to those of the Frenchman. This unexpected termination of the lottery led to a scene of ten-ific excitement. Several seized hold of the bag, jerking it out of the hand of him who had hitherto been holding it. It was at once turned inside out ; when the red button fell upon the planking of the raft. Most of the men were furious, and loudly declared that they had been cheated, some offering conjectures as to how the cheat had been accomplished. The confederate of Le Gros backed by the ruffian himself suggested that there might have been no deception about the matter, but only a mistake made in the number of buttons originally thrown into the bag. " Like enough, d d like enough!" urged Le Gros's sharping partner; u - there 'a been a button too many put into the bag, twenty-seven instead of twenty-six. That 's how it 's come about. Well, as we all helped at the counting of 'em, therefore it 's no- body's fault in particular. We '11 have to draw again, and the next time we can be more careful." As no one appeared able to contradict this hypothesis, it passed off, with a number, as the correct one. Most of the men, however, felt sure that a trick had been played ; and the trick itself could be easily conjectured. Some one of the drawers had procured a button similar to those inside 2CO THE OCEAN WATFS. the bag ; and holding this button, had sinr. ply inserted hi* hand, and drawn it out again. Out of twenty-six draws it would have been impossible to fix upon the individual who had been guilty of the cheat , though there were not a few who permitted their suspicions to fall on Le Gros himself. There had been observed something peculiar in his mode of manipulation. He had inserted his hand into the wallet with the fist closed ; and had drawn it out in similar fashion. This, with one or two other circumstances, looked suspicious enough ; but it was remembered that some others had done the same ; and as there was not enough of evidence to bring home the infa- mous act to its perpetrator, no one appeared either able or willing to risk making the accusation. Yes, there was one who had not yet declared himself; nor did he do so until some time had elapsed after the final and disappointing draw made by the master of the cere- monies. This man was Larry 0' Gorman. While the rest of the crew had been listening to the argu- ments of the Frenchman's confederate, and one by one signifying their acquiescence, the Irishman stood apart, apparently busied in some profound mental calculation. When at length all seemed to have consented to a second casting of lots, he roused himself from his reverie ; and, stepping hastily into their midst, cried out in a determined manner, "No " No, yez don't," continued he, " no more drawin', my jewels, till we Ve had a betther undherstandin' ov this little matther. That there 's been chatin' yez are all agreed ; only yez can't identify the chate. Maybe I can say somethin' to point out the dirty spalpeen as "has n't the courage nor the dacency to take his chance along wid the rest ov us." This unexpected interpolation at once drew the eyes of ;J1 parties upon the speaker ; for all were alike interested in the revelation which 0' Gorman was threatening to make LE GROS UPON TRIAL. 261 Whoever had played foul, if it could only be proved Against him, would be regarded as the man who ought to have drawn the red button ; and would be treated as if he had done so. This was tacitly understood ; even before the suggestion of such a course had passed' the lips of any one. Those who were innocent were of course desirous of discov- ering the " black sheep," in order to escape the danger of a second drawing, and, as these comprehended almost the entire crew, it was natural that an attentive ear should be given to the statement which the Irishman proposed to lay before them. All stood gazing upon him with expectant eyes. In those of Le Gros and his confederate there was a different ex- pression. The look of the Frenchman was more especially remarkable. His jaws had fallen ; his lips were white and bloodless ; his eyes glared fiend-like out of their sunken sockets ; while the whole cast of his features was that of a man threatened with some fearful and infamous fate, which he feels himself unable to avert. CHAPTER LXXI. LE GROS UPON TRIAL. AS 0' Gorman gave utterance to the last words e seen, not even the light, had it continued to burn. 280 THE OCEAN WAIFS. Before the coming on of the fog, they had kept a look-ou( for the light, one or other remaining always on the waU h. They had done so, with a sort of despairing hope that it might reappear ; but, as the surrounding atmosphere became impregnated with the filmy vapor, this dreary vigilance waa gradually relaxed, and at length abandoned altogether. So thick fell the fog during the mid-hours of the night, that nothing could be seen at the distance of over six feet from the eye. Even they who occupied the raft could only distinguish those who were close by their side ; and each appeared to the others as if shrouded under a screen of gray gauze. The darkness did not hinder them from conversing. As nearly all hope of succor from a supposed ship had been extinguished, along with that fanciful light, it was but natural that their thoughts should lapse into some other channel ; and equally so, that they should turn back to that from which they had been so unexpectedly diverted. Hunger, keen, craving hunger, easily transported them to the spectacle which the sheen of that false torch had brought to an unsatisfactory termination ; and their minds now dwelt on what would have been the different condition of affair?, had they not yielded to the delusion. Not only had their thoughts reference to this theme, but their speeches ; and in the solemn hour of midnight, in the midst of that gloomy vapor, darkly overshadowing the great deep, they might have been heard again discussing the awful question, " Who dies next ? " To arrive at a decision was not so difficult as before. The majority of the men had made up their minds as to the course that should be pursued. It was no longer a question of casting lots. That had been done already ; and the two who had not yet drawn clear and betw Mr< whom th thing still remained undecided -were undouoiedly the indi- viduals to determine the matte 1 *. A DOUBLE DARKNESS. 28l Indeed, there was no debate. All were unanimous thai either Le Gros or O'Gorman should furnish food for their famishing companions, in other words, that the combat, so unexpectedly postponed, should be again resumed. There was nothing unfair in this, except to the Irish man. He had certainly secured his triumph, when inter- rupted. If another half-second had been allowed him, hia antagonist would have lain lifeless at his feet. Under the judgment of just umpires this circumstance would have weighed in his favor ; and, perhaps, exempted him from any further risk ; but, tried by the shipwrecked crew of a slaver, more than a moiety of whom leaned towards his antagonist, the sentence was different; and the majority of the judges proclaimed that the combat be- tween him and Le Gros should be renewed, and continued to the death. The renewal of it was not to take place on the moment. Night and darkness both forbade this; but the morning's earliest light was to witness the resumption of that terriblo strife. Thus resolved, the ex-crew of the Pandora laid themselves down to sleep, not quite so calmly as they might have done in the forecastle of the slaver ; for thirst, hunger, and fears for a hopeless future, without saying anything of a hard couch, were not the companions with which to approach the shrine of Somnus. As a counterpoise, they felt lassitude both of mind and body, approaching to prostration. Some of them slept. Some of them could have slept within the portals of Pluto, with the dog Cerberus yelping in their ears! A few there were who seemed either unable to take rest or indifferent to it. All night long some one or other sometimes two at a time might be seen staggering about the raft, or crawling over its planks, as if unconscious of what they were doing. It seemed ,1 wonder that some of 232 THE OCEAN WAIFS. them semi-somnambulists in a double sense did not fall overboard into the water. But they did not. Notwithstand- ing the eccentricity of their movements, they all succeeded in maintaining their position on the raft. To tumble over its edge would have been tantamount to toppling into the jaws of an expectant shark, and getting " scrunched " be- tween no less than six rows of sharp teeth. Perhaps it was an instinct or some presentiment of this peril that en- abled these wakeful wanderers to preserve their equilib- rium. CHAPTER LXXVII. A WHISPERED CONSPIRACY. fTl HOUGH most of the men had surrendered themselves J|. to such slumber as they might obtain, the silence was neither profound nor continuous. At times no sounds were heard save the whisperings of the breeze, as it brushed against the spread canvas, or a slight "swashing" in the water as it was broken by the rough timbers of the craft. These sounds were intermingled with the loud breathing of some of the sleepers, an occasional snore, and now and then a muttered speech the involuntary utterance of some one dreaming a dreadful dream. At intervals other noises would arise, when one or more of the waking castaways chanced to come together, to hold a short conversation ; or when one of them, scarce conscious of what he did, stumbled over the limbs of a prostrate com- rade, perhaps awaking him from a pleasant repose to the consciousness of the painful ciicumstancea under which ha tad been enjoying it. A WHISPERED CONSPIRACY. 283 Such occurrences usually led to angry altercations, in which threats and ribald language would for some minutes freely find vent from the lips both of the disturbed and the disturber; and then both would growlingly subside into silence. At that hour, when the night was at its darkest, and the fog at ita thickest, two men might have been seen, though only by an eye very close to where they were, in a sitting posture at the bottom of the mast. They were crouching rather than seated; for they were upon their knees, with their bodies bent forward, and one or both of their hands ~"V*3R upon the planks. xVie attitude was plainly not one of repose ; and any one near enough to have observed the two men, or to have heard the whispered conversation that was being carried on between them, would have come to the conclusion that sleep was far from their thoughts. In that deep darkness, however, no one noticed them ; and although several of their companions were lying but a few feet from the bottom of the mast, these were eithet asleep or too distant to hear the whisperings that passed between the two men kneeling in juxtaposition. They continued to talk in very low whispers, each in turn putting his lips close to the ear of the other; and while doing so the subject of their conversation might have been guessed at by their glances, or at least the individual about whom they conversed. This was a man who was lying stretched along the tim bers, not far from the bottom of the mast, and apparently sleep. In fact he must have been asleep, as was testified by the stentorian snores that occasionally escaped from his wide-spread nostrils. This noisy slumberer was the Irishman, O'Gorman, one of the parties to that suspended fight, to be resumed by day- break in the mornings Whatever evil deeds this man may 284 THE OCEAN WAIFS. have done during his life, and he had performed not a few, for we have styled him only the least guilty of that guilty crew, he was certainly no coward. Thus to sleep, with such a prospect on awaking, at least proved him reck- lessly indifferent to death. The two men by the mast, whose eyes were evidently open him, had no very clear view of him where he lay. Through the white raist they could see only something like the shape of a human being recumbent along the planks ; and of that only the legs and lower half of the body. Even had it been daylight they could not, from their position, have seen his head and shoulders ; for both would have bee* ' * cealed by the empty rum-cask, already mentioned, tk_^ stood upon its end exactly by the spot where O'Gorman had rested his head. The Irishman, above all others, had taken a delight in the contents of that cask, so long as a drop was left ; and now that it was all gone, perhaps the smell of the alcohol had influenced him in choosing his place of repose. Whether or not, he was now sleeping on a spot which was to prove the last resting-place of his life. Cruel destiny had decreed that from that slumber he was never more to awaken ! - This destiny was now being shaped out for him ; and by the two individuals who were regarding him from the bot- tom of the mast. " He 's sound asleep," whispered one of them to the other. " You hear that snore ? Parbleu ! only a hog could counteir- feit that." " Sound as a top ! " asserted the other. " C'est bon ! " whispered the first speaker, with a signifi- cant shrug of the shoulders. " If we manage matters smartly, he need never wake again. What say you, com- rade?" " I agree to anything you may propose," assented thf Other. "What is it?" A WHISPERED CONSPIRACY. 285 * There need be no noise about it. A single blow will be Mifficient, if given in tbe right place. With the blade of 8 knife through his heart, he '11 not make three kicks. He 'II never know it till he 's in the next world. Peste ! I :ould almost envy him such an easy way of getting out of this ! " " You think it might be done without making a noise ? " u Easy as falling overboard. One could hold something OTer his mouth, to keep his tongue quiet ; while the other You know what I mean ? " The horrid act to be performed by the other was left un- spoken, even in those confidential whisperings. CHAPTER LXXXI. UNPLEASANT CONJECTURES. TT\ ANGNATION ! it be the big raft." __ 9 Such was the singular speech that fell from th lips of the sailor, and with an accent that proclaimed it omi- nous. And why ominous ? Why should the presence of that embarkation known to them as the "big raft" cause apprehension to the crew of the Catamaran ? So far as Ben Brace and little William were concerned, the question has been already answered. It may be remembered with what feelings of alarm they first listened to the voices of Snowball and Lilly Lalee, heard in a similar manner during the darkness of the night, and with what suspicious caution they had made their approach to the Coromantee in the middle of his casks. It may be remembered for what reason they were thus suspicious, for it was then given, a dread on the part of William and a great one, too of being devoured by that cannibal crew ; and on the part of his generous protector a fear of becoming a victim to their revenge. The same motive for their fears still existed ; and their apprehension of being approached by the raft was as unabated as ever. Snowball's dread of the Pandora's people might not have been so acute, but for a certain circumstance that came be- fore his mind. He had been made aware, by sundry ill- usage he had received from the slaver's captain and mate, just previous to the climax of the catastrophe, that he was himself regarded as the author of it. He knew he had been ; and he supposed that the thing must have become known to the rest of the crew. He had not encountered them afto- 296 THE OCEAN WAIFS. wards; and well had it been for him, fttf 1 certainly they would have wreaked their vengeance upon him without stint Snowball had sense enough to be aware of this ; and there- fore his aversion to any further intercourse with the cast- aways of the lost ship was quite as strong as that of either Ben Brace or the boy. As for Lilly Lalee, her fears were due to a less definite cause, and only arose from observing the apprehension of her companions. " De big raff," said Snowball, mechanically repeating the sailor's last words. " You b'lieve im be dat, Massa Brace?" " Shiver my timbers if I know what to think, Snowy ! If it be that " " Ef im be dat, wha' den?" inquired the Coromantee, seeing that Brace had stopped short in what he was going to say. " Why, only that we 're in an ugly mess. There 's no reason to think they have picked up a stock o' provisions, since we parted wi' them. I don't know how they 've stuck it out, that is, supposin' it be them. They may have got shark-meat like ourselves ; or they have lived upon " The sailor suddenly suspended his speech, glancing to- wards William, as if what he was about to say had better not reach the ears of the lad. Snowball, however, understood him, as was testified by a significant shake of the head. "As for water," continued the sailor, "they had some left; but not enough to have lasted them to this time. They had rum, oceans o' that, but it 'ud only make things wor^e. True, they mout a caught some o' the rain in their shirts and tarpaulins, as we did ; but they were n't the sort to be care- ful o' it wi' a rum-ca^k standin' by ; an' I dar say, by tliia time, though they may have some'at to eat, - as /on knows UNPLEASANT CONJECTURES. 29? Snowy, they '11 be dyin' for a drop o' drink. In thai ease " " In dat case, dey rob us ob de whole stock we hab save Den we perish fo' sartiii.' " Sure o' that, at least," continued the sailor. " But they would n't stop by robbin' us o' our precious water. They 'd take everything ; an' most likely our lives into the bargain. Let us hope it ain't them we 've heard." " Wha' you say, Master Brace ? 'Pose 'um be de capten an' dem odders in de gig ? Wha' you tink ? " "It mout," answered the sailor. "I war n't thinkin' o' them. It mout be ; an' if so, we han't so much to fear as from t' other 'uns. They arn't so hard up, I should say ; or even if they be, there arn't so many o' 'em to bully us. There were only five or six o' them. I should be good for any three o' that lot myself; an' I reckon you an' Will'm here could stan' a tussle wi' the others. Ah ! I wish it war them. But 't arn't likely : they had a good boat an' a com- pass in it ; and if they 've made any use o' their oars, they ought to be far from here long afore this. You 've got the best ears, nigger : keep them well set, an' listen. You know the voices o' the ole Pan's crew. See if you can make 'em out." During the above dialogue, which had been carried on in an undertone, a whisper, in fact, the mysterious voices had not been again distinguished. When first heard, they appeared to proceed from two or more men engaged in con- versation ; and, as we have said, were only very indistinct, either from the speakers being at a distanr e or talking in a low tone of voice. The Catamarans now listened, expecting to hear some words pronounced in a louder tone; and yet not wishing to hear them. Rather would they that those voices should never again sound in their ears. For a time it seemed "as if they were going to have thil 13* 298 THE OCEAN WAIFS. wish gratified. Full ten minutes elapsed, and no sound reached their ears, either of human or other voice. This silence was at first satisfactory; but all at once a reflection came across the mind of Ben Brace, which gave a new turn to his thoughts and wishes. What if the voices heard had come from a different sort of men? Why should they be those of the slaver's cast- away crew, either the ruffians on the raft or the captain's party in the gig ? What, after all, if they had proceeded from the decks of the whaler? The old whalesman had not thought of this before ; and, now that he did think of it, it caused such a commotion in his mind, that he could hardly restrain himself from crying out " Ship ahoy ! " He was hindered, however, by a quick reflection that counselled him to caution. In case of its not being the whaler's men that had been heard it must be those of the slaver ; and the hail would but too certainly be the precursor to his own destruction, as well as that of his companions. In a whisper he communicated his thoughts to Snowball, who became equally affected by them, equally inclined to cry " Ship ahoy ! " and ah'ke conscious of the danger of doing so. A strife of thought was now carried on in the bosom* of both. It was lamentable to reflect, that they might be close to a ship, within hailing distance of her, which could at once have rescued them from all the perils that surrounded them ; and that this ship might be silently gliding past, shrouded from their sight under that thick fog, in another hour to be far off" upon the ocean, never to come within hailing distance again ! A single word a shout might save them; and yet ihey dared not utter it ; for the same shout might equally jetray, and lead to their destruction. They were strongly tempted to risk the ambiguous signal UNPLEASANT CONJECTURES. 299 For some seconds they stood wavering between silence and u Ship ahoy ! " but caution counselled the former, and pru dence at length triumphed. This course was not adopted accidental p. A process of reasoning that passed through the mind of the old whales man, founded upon his former professional experiences, - conducted him to it. If it be the whale-ship, reasoned he, she must have come back in search of the cachalot. Her crew must have known that they had killed it. The " drogues " and flag proved that belief on their part, and the ex-whalesman knew thai it would be well worth their while to return in search of the whale. It was this very knowledge that had sustained his hopes, and delayed him so long by its carcass. A whale, which would have yielded nearly a hundred barrels of sper- maceti, was a prize not to be picked up every day in the middle of the ocean ; and he knew that such a treasure would not be abandoned without considerable search having first been made to recover it. All this was in favor of the probability that the voices heard had proceeded from the whale-ship ; and if so, it was farther probable that in the midst of that fog, while bent upon such an errand, the crew would not care to make way ; but, on the contrary, would " lay to," and wait for the clear- ing of the atmosphere. In that case the Catamarans might still expect to see the welcome ship when the fog should rise ; and with this hope tfiey came to the determination to keep silence. The hour was still very early, the sun scarce yet above the horizon. When that luminary should appear, his power- ful rays would soon dissipate the darkness ; and then, if not before, would they ascertain whether those vcices had pro ceeded from the throats of monsters or of met 300 THE OCEAN WAIFS. CHAPTER LXXXI1. AN INFORMAL INQUEST. fllHEY did not have to stay for the scattering of the fog I Long before the sun had lifted that veil from off th face of the sea, the crew of the Catamaran had discovered the character of their neighbors. They were not friends, but dire enemies, the very enemies they so much dreaded. The discovery was not delayed. It was made soon after, and in the following manner : The three Snowball, the sailor, and little William had kept their place on the carcass of the cachalot, all three attentively listening, the two last standing up, and the former in a reclining attitude, with his huge ear laid close to the skin of the whale, as though he believed that to be a conductor of sound. There was no need for them to have been thus straining their ears : for when a sound reached them at length, it was that of a voice, so harsh and loud, that a deaf man might almost have heard it. " Sacre ! " exclaimed the voice, apparently pronounced in an accent of surprise, " look here, comrades ! Here 's a dead man among us ! " Had it been the demon of the mist that gave utterance to these speeches, they could not have produced a more fearful effect upon those who heard them from the back of the cach- alot. The accent, along with that profane shibboleth, might have proceeded from any one who spoke the language of France ; but the tone of the voice could not be mistaken. Il had too often rung in their ears with a disagreeable emphasis, " Massa Le Grow, dat am," muttered the negro. " Any- body tell dat." Snowball's companions made no reply. None was re quired. Other voices rose up out of the mist. AN INFORMAL INQUEST. 301 * A dead man ! " shouted a second. " Sure enough. Who ait." " It 'a the Irishman ! " proclaimed a third. " See ! He 'a been killed ! There 's a knife sticking between his rib* ! He s been murdered ! " " That 's his own knife," suggested some one. " I know it ; because it once belonged to me. If you look you '11 find his name on the haft. He graved it there the very day he bought it from me." There was an interval of silence, as if they had paused to confirm the suggestion of the last speaker. " You 're right," said one, resuming the informal inquest. " There 's his name, sure enough, Larry O 1 Gorman." u He 's killed himself ! " suggested a voice not hitherto heard. " He 's committed suicide ! " "I don't wonder at his doing so," said another, confirm- ingly. " He expected to have to die anyhow ; and I suppose ne thought the sooner it was off his mind the better it would be for him." " How 's that ? " inquired a fresh speaker, who appeared to dissfHit from the opinions of those that had preceded him. "Why should he expect to die any more than the rest of us?" " You forget, mate, that the fight was not finished between him and Monsieui Le Gros ? " " No, I don't forget it. Well ? " "Well, yourself!" " It don't follow he was to be the next to die, not as I can see. Look at this, comrades ! There 's been foul play here ! The Irishman 's been stabbed with his own knife. That 's plain enough ; but it is not so sure he did it himself Why should he ? I say again, there 's been foul play ? " " And who do you accuse of foul play ? " u I don't accuse any one. Let them bring the charge, as have seen something. Somebody must know how this 302 THE OCEAN WAIFS. about There's been a murder. Can any one tell wh did it?" There was a pause of silence of more than a minute in duration. No one made answer. If any one knew who was the murderer, they failed to proclaim it. " Look here, mates ! " put in one, whose sharp voice sounded like the cry of a hyena, " I 'm hungry as a starved shark. Suppose we suspend this inquest, till we've had breakfast. After that we can settle who 's done the deed, if there 's been any one, except the man himself. What say ye all?" The horrid proposal was not replied to by any one. The loud shout that succeeded it sprang from a different cause ; and the words that were afterwards uttered had no reference to the topic under consideration. u A light ! a light ! " came the cry, vociferated by several voices. " It 's the light we saw last night. It 's the galley-fire ! There 's a ship within a hundred yards of us ! " "Ship ahoy! ship ahoy!" "Ship ahoy! what ship's that?" " Why the devil don't you answer our hail ? " " To the oars, men ! to the oars. Sacre-dieu ! The lub- bers must be asleep. Ship ahoy ! ship ahoy ! " There was no mistaking the signification of these speech- es. The sailor and Snowball exchanged glances of despair. Both had already looked behind them. There, blazing fiercely up, was the fire of spermaceti, with the shark-steaks browning in its flame. In the excitement of the moment they had forgotten all about it. Its light, gleaming through the fog, had betrayed their presence to those upon the raft ; and the order issued to take to the oars, with the confused plashing that quickly followed, told the Catamarans that the big raft was about to bear down upon them ! SLIPPING THE CABLE. 808 CHAPTER LXXXIII SLIPPING THE CABLE. ~1~"\ AR coming on!" muttered Snowball. "Wha* w 1 J better do, Massa Brace ? Ef we stay hya dey de- troy us fo' sartin." " Stay here ! " exclaimed the sailor, who no longer spoke in whispers, since such would no longer avail. ' Anything but that. Quick, Snowy, quick, Will'm ! Back down to the deck o' our craft. Let 's make all speed, and cast off from the karkiss o' the whale. There be time enough yet ; and then it '11 be, who 's got the heels. Don't be so bad skeeart, Snowy. The ole Catamaran be a trim craft. I built her myself, wi' your help, nigger ; an' I Ve got faith in her speed. We '11 outsail 'em yet" " Dat we will, Massa Brace," assented Snowball, as, close following the sailor, he glided down the rope on to the deck of the Catamaran, where little William had already arrived. It was the work of only a few minutes to cut the tiny cable by which the little embarkation had been attached to the fin of the cachalot, and push the craft clear of its moorings. But, short as was the time, during its continuance the sun had produced a wonderful change in that oceanic panorama. The floating fog, absorbed by his fervid rays, had almost disappeared from the deep, or at all events had become so dissipated that the different objects composing that strange tableau in the proximity of the dead cachalot could all be een by a single coup d'osil; and were also in sight of one another. There was the huge carcass itself, looming like a gre5 304 THE OCEAN WAIFS. black rock above the surface of the sea. Just parting fron its side was the little Catamaran, with its sail set, and ita crew, consisting of two men and a boy, the little Portu- guese girl appearing as a passenger, the two men ener- getically bending to the oars while the boy held hold of the rudder. Scarce a hundred yards astern was the larger embarka- tion, supporting its score of dark forms, some seated, and straining at the oars, some steering, others attending to the sail ; and one or two standing by the head, shouting directions to the rest, all apparently in wonder at the tableau thus suddenly disclosed, and uncertain what to make of it, or what course to pursue ! The occupants of the great raft were infinitely more aston- ished than those of the Catamaran. On the part of the latter there was no longer any astonishment. On recognizing the voices taking part in that ceremonious inquest they had comprehended all. The surprise they had at first felt wag now changed into terror. The men on the raft were still under the influence of astonishment; and no wonder. The apparition that had so suddenly loomed up before their eyes, at first obscurely seen through the fog, but gradually becoming more distinct, was enough to cause any amount of surprise. Such a grouping of strange objects in such a situation ! The huge carcass of a whale, a fire upon its back, with bright flamea blazing upward, a crane over the fire with the curious flitches suspended from it, a raft, in some respects resem- bling their own, supported by empty casks, and carrying a ail, with four human beings seen upon its deck, all these formed a series of phenomena, or facts, that was enough to have excited the surprise of the most indifferent observers. Some of the men were even speechless with wonder, and s continued for a time, while others gave vent to their as ton Uhment in loud shouts and excifed gesticulations. SLIPPING THE CABLE. 305 That first order issued by Le Gros for it was his voice that had been heard giving it had no other object than to cause a rapid movement towards the dark mass, or rather the beacon seen blazing upon its summit. The order had been instantly obeyed ; for there was an instinctive appre- hension on the part of all that, as before, the light might again vanish from their view. As they drew nearer, however, and the fog continued to disperse, they obtained a fairer view. Their surprise was not much diminished, though their comprehension of the objects before them became rapidly clearer. The retreat of the Catamarans for the movements of the latter proclaimed this design was of itself suggestive ; and, perhaps, more than aught else, enabled those from whom they were retreating to comprehend the situation. At first they could not even conjecture who they were that occupied the little raft. They saw four human beings upon it ; but the mist was still ..hick enough to hinder them from having a clear view of either their forms, faces, or features. Through the filmy atmosphere to recognize them was impossible. Had there been but two, and had the em- barkation that carried them been a mere platform of planks, they might have shaped a conjecture. They remembered that upon such a structure Ben Brace and the boy had given them the slip ; and it might be them. But who were the two others ? And whence came the six water-casks, the sail, and other paraphernalia seen upon the escaping craft? They did not stay to waste time in conjectures. It was enough for them to perceive that the four individuals thus seen were trying to get out of their reach. This was prima facie proof that they had something worth carrying along with thsm ; perhaps water ! Some one made use of the word. It was like proclaiming * reprieve to a wretch 'upon the scaffold about to be launcbvi 806 THE OCEAN WAIFS. Into eternity. It caused such excitement in the minds of th motley crew all of them suffering from extreme thirst that, without further hesitancy, they bent eagerly to their oars, putting forth the utmost effort of their strength in chase of the Catamaran. CHAPTER LXXXIV. THE CHASE. HALF pulling, half trusting to the sail, in a few seconds they were alongside the carcass of the cachalot. They saw what it was and divined how it came to be there ; though still puzzled b^ the pyrotechnic display ex- hibited on its summit. As they passed under the shadow of the huge mass some proposed that they should stay by it, alleging that it would furnish food for all ; but this proposal was rejected by the majority. " ParUeu ! " exclaimed the directing voice of Le Gros ; 1 we have food a plenty. It 's drink we want now. There 's no water upon the whale ; arid there must be some in pos- session of these runaways, whoever they be. Let us first follow them! If we overhaul them, we can come back. If not, we can return all the same ! " This proposal appeared too reasonable to be rejected. A muttered assent of the majority decided its acceptance ; and the raft, yielding to the renewed impulse of the rcwera, swept past the carcass, leaving both the black mass and the blazing beacon ast j rn. As if further to justify the course of action he had coon* selled, Le Gros continued, THE CHASE. 807 * No fear about our finding the dead fisL This fog is clearing away. In half an hour there won't be a trace of it. We shall be able to make out the carcass jf the whale twenty milea off, especially with the smoke of that infer- nal fire to guide us. Pull like the devil ! Be sure of it, there 's water in one of those casks we see. Only think of ^ water!" It scarce needed the repetition of this magic word tc stimulate his thirsty companions. They were already pull- ing with all their strength. For about ten minutes the chase continued, both the pursued and the pursuer equally enveloped in vapor. They were less than two hundred yards apart, and virtually within view, though not so near as to distinguish one another's features. Each crew could make out the forms of the other ; but only to tell that they were human beings clad in some sort of costume. In this respect the Catamarans had the advantage. They knew who were their pursuers ; and all about them. The latter were still In a state of ignorance as to who were the four individuals so zealously endeavoring to avoid an interview with them. They could perceive that only two of them were full-grown men, and that the other two were of smaller size ; but this gave them no clew for the identifi- cation of the fugitives. Of course it did not occur to any of them to think over the rest of the Pandora's people ; and even if it had, there was no one who would have for a moment supposed that either the black cook, Snowball, or the little Portuguese pickaninny, rarely seen upon the shiver's deck, could be among the survivors. Such a conjecture never occurred to any of the ruffians npon the great raft; and therefore they we?e continuing the chase still ignorant of the identity of those who seemed s desirous of escaping theui. 808 THE OCEAN WAIFS. It was only after the fog had floated entirely away, or grown so thin as to appear but transparent film, that the pursuers identified those they were pursuing. Then did their doubts cease and their conjectures come to a termination. Of the four forms distinguishable upon the deck of the escaping craft, there was one that could not be mistaken. That huge, rounded bust covered with its sable epidermis, for the negro had stripped to his work, surmounted by a spherical occiput, could belong to no living creature but the ex-cook of the Pandora. It was Snowball to a cer- tainty ! A general shout proclaimed the recognition ; and for some moments the air was rent with the voices of his ci-devant comrades calling upon the Coromantee to " come to an anchor." " Lie to, Snowball ! " cried several of his old comrades. " Why have you cut "your cable in that fashion ? Hold on till we come up. We mean you no harm ! " Snowball did hold on ; though not in the sense that his former associates desired. On the contrary, their request only stimulated him to fresh exertions, to avoid the renewal i>f an acquaintance which he knew would certainly end in flis ruin. The Coromantee was not to be cajoled. With Ben Brace by his side, muttering wholesome counsel, he lent a deaf ear to the proposal of the pursuers; and only answered it by pulling more energetically at his oar. What had been only a request, now became a demand, accompanied by threats and protestation^. Snowball wan menaced with the most dire vengeance ; and told of terrible punishments that awaited him on his capture. Their threats had no more influence than their solicita- tions ; and they who had given utterance to them arriving fter a time, at this conviction, ceased talking altogether. NEARER AND NEARER. 80 Snowball's silent, though evidently determined, rejection yf their demands had the effect of irritating those who had made them ; and stimulated by their spite with more energy than ever did they bend themselves to the task of overtak- ing the fugitive craft. Two hundred yards still lay between pursuer and pursued. Two hundred yards of clear, unobstructed ocean. Was that distance to become diminished, to the capture of the Catamaran ; or was it to be increased, to her escape ? CHAPTER LXXXV. NEARER AND NEARER. WERE the Catamarans to escape or be captured? Though not propounded as above, this was the ques- tion that occupied the minds of both crews, the pursued and the pursuing. Both were doing their very utmost, the former to make their escape, the latter to prevent it ; and very different were the motives by which the two parties were actuated. The occupants of the lesser raft believed themselves to be row- ing and sailing for their lives ; and they were not far astray in this belief; while those upon the larger embarkation were pulling after them with the most hostile intentions, to rob them of everything they had got, even their lives in- cluded. So went they over the wide ocean : the pursued exerting themselves under the influence of fear ; the pursuer, under that of a ferocious instinct. In sailing qualities the Catamaran was decidedly snperioi to the larger raft ; and had the wind been cnly a little fresb 31(1 THE OCEAN WAIFS. er she would soon have increased the distance between hei iclf and her pursuer. Unfortunately it was a very gentle breeze that was blowing at the time ; and therefore it was a contest of speed that would most likely have to be decided by the oars. In this respect the Catamaran labored under a great disadvantage, ehe could only command a single pair of oars ; while, taking into account the various implements capstan-bars and hand- spikes possessed by her competitor, nearly a dozen oars might be reckoned upon. In fact, when her crew had got fairly settled down to the chase, quite this number of men could be seen acting as rowers. Though their strokes were by no means either regular or efficient, still did they produce a rate of speed greater than that of the Catamaran; and the crew of the latter saw, to their dismay, that their pursuers were gaining upon them. Not very rapidly, but sufficiently so to be perceived, and to inspire them with the dread belief, that in course of time they would be overtaken. Under this belief, men of a despairing turn of mind would have ceased to exert themselves, and yielded to a fate that appeared almost certain to ensue. But neither the English sailor nor the Coromantee sea- cook, were individuals of the yielding kind. They were both made of sterner stuff, and even when the chase was undoubtedly going against them, they were heard muttering to each other words of encouragement, and a mutual deter- mination never to lay down their oars, so long as six feet of water separated them from their unpitying pursuers. " No," ejaculated the sailor, " it 'ud be no use. They 'd show us no more marcy than so many sharks. I know it by their ways. Don't lose a stroke, Snowy. We may tire em out yet." " Nebba fear fo' me, Massa Biace I " replied the Coro- NEARER AND NEARER. 31] mantee. " A keep pulliii' so long 's de be a poun' o* trength in ma arms, or a bit o' breff in ma body. Nebba fear ! " It might appear as though the crew of the Catamaran were now contending against fate, and without hope. This, however, was not the case; for there was still something like a hope to cheer them on, and nerve them to continue their exertions. What was it? The answer to this interrogatory would have been found by any one who could have looked upon the sea, at some distance astern of the chase. There might have been observed an appearance u^n the water, which betokened it different from that through which they were making their way. It resembled a dark, shadowy line, extending athwart the horizon. It might not have attracted the notice of an ordi- nary observer, but to the eye of Ben Brace, as he sat by his oar facing it, that dark line had a peculiar signifi- cation. He knew that it denoted rougher water, and a stiffer breeze than that blowing upon them ; and from this, as well as the clouds fast gathering astern, he knew there was a wind coming from that quarter. He had imparted his observation to Snowball, and it was this that continued to inspire them with a hope of ultimate escape. Both believed that, with a strong wind in their favor, they would have the advantage of the pursuer ; and so, while still bending all their energies to the propulsion of the Catamaran, they kept their eyes almost continually fixed upon the sea astern, even with a more anxious glance than that with which they regarded their pursuers. "If we can keep out o' their way," muttered he to his fellow oarsman, " only twenty minutes longer ! By that time yonder breeze '11 be down on us ; and then we '11 ha' some chance. There be no doubt but they 're gainin' on ui now. But the breeze be, a gainin' on them, equally, if 512 THE OCEAN WA1F& not faster. O if we only had a puff o' yonder wind! It b bio win' fresh and strong. I can see it curlin' op the water not thrae knots astarn o' the big raft. Pull for your life, Snowy Shiver my timbers ! they be a gainin' on us faster than erer ! " There was a despairing tone in these last words, that told how fearful appeared their situation to the captain of the Catamaran ; and the sign of assent made by Snowball in reply, an ominous shake of the head, showed that the ex-cook shared the apprehensions of his comrade. CHAPTER LXXXVI. CUT IN TWAIN. FOR some seconds the sailor and Snowball remained si lent, both too busy with their oars, as well as their eyes, to find time for speech. Their pursuers were noisy enough. They had kept quiet, so long as there appeared to be any uncertainty about the re- sults of the chase ; but as soon as they became assured that their clumsy craft was going faster than that of which they were in pursuit, and they no longer felt doubt about over- taking the latter, their fiendish voices once more filled the air ; and commands for the Catamarans to come to, with threats of revenge in case of non-compliance, were hurled after the fugitives. One man was conspicuous among the rest both for the position which he held upon the raft and the menacing words and gestures of which he made use. Tin's man was Le Gros. Standing prominently forward, near the head of the em- CUT IN TWAIN. 318 barkation, with a long boat-hook in his hand, he appeared t* direct the movements of the others, urging them in e^ery way to their utmost exertions. He was heard telling then that he saw both food and water in possession of the fugi- tives, a cask of the latter, as he stated, being lashed *a the Catamaran ' It need scarce be said that the statement. whether true or fallacious, acted as a stimulus to his comrades at the oar. The word " water " was music to their ears ; and, on hearing it pronounced, one and all of them put forth their utmost strength. The increased speed thus obtained for the larger craft war likely to bring about the crisis. She was now seen to gain upon the lesser more rapidly than ever ; and, before another ten minutes had elapsed, she had forged so close to the stern timbers of the Catamaran that an active man might almost have leaped from one to the other. The crew of the latter beheld the proximity with despair. They saw the black waves, with white curling crests, com- ing on behind. They saw the sky becoming overcast above their heads ; but it appeared only to scowl upon them, as i to make darker the dread doom that was now threatening 60 near. " Shiver my timbers ! " cried the sailor, alluding to that too tardy wind, " it will be too late to save us ! " " Too late ! " echoed the voice of Le Gros from the big raft, his white teeth, as they shone through his black beard, imparting to him a ferocity of aspect that was hideous to behold. " Too late, you say, Monsieur Brace. For what, may I ask ? Not too late for us to get a drink out of your water-cask. Ha ! ha ! ha ! " " You son of a sea-cook ! " he continued, addressing him- self to the negro ; " why don't you hold your oars ? Sacn Dieu ! what 's the use, you ugly nigger ? Don't yon e we '11 board you Ja six seconds more ? Drop your 14 ft 14 THE OCEAN WAIFS. cars, I say, and save time. If you don't, we '11 skin you alive, when we 've got our flippers upon you." " Nebba, Massa Grow ! " defiantly retorted Snowball ; " you nebba *kin dis nigga 'live. He go die 'fore you do dat He got him knife yet. By golly ! me kill more than one ob you 'fore gib in. So hab a care, Massa Grow ! You lay hand on ole Snowy, you cotch de tarnel goss." To this threat of resistance the Frenchman did not vouch- safe reply : for the rafts were now so near to each other that his attention became engrossed by something that left no time for further speech. He saw that the Catamaran was within reach of his boat-hook, and, leaning forwards with the long shaft ex- tended, he struck its grappling-iron into her stern timber. For a second or two there was a struggle, which would have ended in the two rafts being brought in contact with one another, but for an adroit stroke given by the oar of the English sailor. This not only detached the boat-hook from its grip, but also from the grasp of Le Gros, and sent the implement shivering through the air. At the same instant of time the Frenchman, losing hia balance, was seen to stagger, and then sink suddenly down- wards ; not into a prostrate position, but perpendicularly, as if his legs had penetrated between the timbers of the raft. This was exactly what had occurred : for as soon as the spectators in both crafts could recover from their surprise, they saw only so much of Monsieur Le Gros as lay between his armpits and the crown of his head, his limbs and the lower half of his body being concealed between the planks that prevented him from sinking wholly into the water. Perhaps it would have been better for him had he made a complete plunge of it. At all events, a bold "header" could not have had for him a more unfortunate ending. Scar 26 had he sunk between the timbei-s when a AN UNLOOKED-FOR DELIVERANCE 315 shriek came forth from his throat, accompanied by a pallor of countenance, and a contortion of his features, that pr> claimed something more than a mere " start " received by suddenly sinking waist-deep into the sea. One of his comrades, the confederate ruffian already spoken of, rushed forward to raise him out of the trap, from which he was evidently unable to extricate himself. The man caught hold of him by the arms, and was drag- ging him up ; when, all at once, he was seen to let go, and start back with a cry of horror ! This singular conduct was explained on looking at the object from which he had made such a precipitate retreat, It was no longer Le Gros, nor even Le Gros's body ; but only the upper half of it, cut off by the abdomen, as clean as if it had been severed by a pair of gigantic shears ! u A shark ! " cried a voice, which only gave utterance to the thought that sprung up simultaneously in the minds of all, both the occupants of the big raft, and the crew of the Catamaran. Thus deplorably terminated the life of a sinful man ; who certainly meiited punishment, and, perhaps deseived no better fate. CHAPTER LXXXVII. AN UNLOOKED-FOR DELIVERANCE. A SPECTACLE so unexpected, but, above all, ot such a horrid nature, could not fail to produce a powerful impression upon those who were witnesses to it. It even caused a change of proceedings on the part of the ptusuers, almost a suspension of the pursuit, and on that of the pursued some relaxation in their efforts to escap*s 816 THL OCEAN WAIFS. Both parties appeared for some seconds as if spell-bound, and the oars on both rafts were for a while held " apeak." This pause in the action was in favor of the Catamaran, whose sailing qualities were superior to those of her pursuer. Her crew, moreover, less caring for what had happened to Monsieur Le Gros, were the first to recover from their sur- prise ; and before the comrades of the half-eaten Frenchman thought of continuing the chase, they had forced ahead sev- eral lengths of their craft from the dangerous contiguity so near being established between them. The ruffian crew now castaways of the Pandora had been awed by the strange incident, so much so as to believe, for a time, that something more than chance had interfered to bring it about. They were not all friends of the unfortunate man, who had succumbed to such a singular fate. The inquest that had been interrupted was still fresh in their minds, and many of them believed that the inquiry had it proceeded to a just termination would have re- sulted in proving the guilt of Le Gros, and piojlaiming him the murderer of 0' Gorman. Under this belief, there were many aboard the big raft that would not have cared to continue the chase any further, had it merely .been to avenge the death of their late leader. With them, as with the others, there was a different motive for doing so, a far more powerful incentive, and that was the thirst which tortured all, and the belief that the escaping craft carried the means to relieve it. The moiety of their mutilated chief, lying along the planka of the raft, engaged their thoughts only for a very short wiille ; and was altogether forgotten, when the cry of " Water ! " once more rising in their midst, urged them to resume the pursuit. Once more did the.y betake themselves to their oars, once more did they exert their utmost strength, but witL fer less effect than before. They were sti^ stimulated by AN UNLOOKED-FOR DELIVERANCE. 317 the torture of thirst; but they no longer acted with that unanimity which secures success. The head that had hitherto guided them with those imperious eyes now glaring ghastly fr >m the extremity of the severed trunk was no longer of authority among them ; and they acted in that undecided and irregular manner tJway& certain to result in defeat. Perhaps, had things continued as they were, they might have made up for the lost opportunity ; and, in time, have overtaken the fugitives on the Catamaran ; but during that excited interval a change had come over the surface of the sea, which influenced the fate both of pursuers and pursued. The dark line, first narrowly observed by the crew of the Catamaran upon the distant verge of the horizon, was no longer a mere streak of shadowed water. It had developed during the continuance of the chase, and now covered both sea and sky, the latter with black cumbrous clouds, the former with quick curling waves, that lashed the water-casks supporting both rafts, and proclaimed the approach, if not of a storm, at least a fresh breeze, likely to change the char- acter of the chase hitherto kept up between them. And very quickly came that change to pass. By the time that the castaways on the great raft had once more headed their clumsy embarkation to the pursuit, they saw the more trim craft, by her builders yclept the Catamaran, with her sails spread widely to the wind, gliding rapidly out of their reach, and " walking the water like a thing of life." They no longer continued the pursuit. They might have done so, but for the waves that now, swelling up around the raft, admonished them of a danger hitherto unknown. With the spray rushing over them, and the sea, at each fresh as- sault, threatening to engulf their ill-governed craft, they found sufficient employment for their remaining strength, in clinging to the timbers of their rude embarkation. 318 THE OCEAN WAIFS. CHAPTER LXXXVIII. A THREATENED STORM. TJHUS, once more, were the Catamarans deliveied from a terrible danger, almost literally " from the jaws of death"; and once more, too, by what appeared a providential interference. Ben Brace actually believed it so. It would have been difficult for any one to have thought otherwise; but the moral mind of the sailor had of late undergone some very serious transformations ; and the perils through which they had been passing, with their repeated deliverances, all apparently due to some unseen hand, had imbued him with a belief that the Almighty must be everywhere, even in the midst of the illimitable ocean. It was this faith that had sustained him through the many trials through which they had gone ; and that, in the very latest and last, when the ruffians upon the raft were fast closing upon the Catamaran, had led him to give encour- aging counsels to Snowball to keep on. It had encouraged him, in fine, to strike the boat-hook from the grasp of Le Gros, which act had ended by putting their implacable enemy hors du combat, and conducting to their final deliver- ance. It was this belief that still hindered the brave mariner, now that the sea began to surge around them, and the spray to dash over the deck of their frail craft, hindered him r rom giving way to a new despair ; and from supposing that they had been only delivered from one danger to be over- whelmed by another. For some time did it seem as if this was to be their fate, as if, literally, they were to be overwhelmed. The breeze which had so opportunely carried the Catamaran beyond the A THREATENED STORM. 319 reach of the pursuing raft, soon freshened into a gale ; and threatened to continue increasing to that still more dreaded condition of the ocean atmosphere, a storm. The rafts were no longer in sight of each other. Scarce fire minutes had elapsed, after being grappled by Le Gros, when the breeze had caught hold of the Catamaran ; andj from her superior sailing qualities, she had soon become sep- arated from the more clumsy embarkation of the enemy. In another hour, the Catamaran, under good steering, had swept several miles to westward ; while the raft, no longer propelled by oars, and its rudder but ill-directed, had gone drifting about: as if they who occupied it were making onl} a despairing effort to keep it before the wind. Despite the rising gale and the increasing roughness of the water, there were no despairing people upon the Catam- aran. Supported by his faith in providential protection, Ben Brace acted as if there was no danger ; and encour- aged his companions to do the same. Every precaution was adopted to provide against acci- dents. As soon as they saw that the pursuer was left be- hind, and they were no longer in any peril from that quarter, the sail was lowered upon the mast, as there was too great a breadth of it for the constantly freshening breeze, It was not taken in altogether, but only " shortened," reefed in a rude fashion, so as to expose only half its sur- face to the wind ; and this proved just sufficient to keep the Catamaran "trim" and steady upon her course. It would not be correct to say that her captain and ci'ew felt no fears for her safety. On the contrary, they experi eneod the apprehensions natural to such a situation ; and for tliia reason did they take every precaution against the danger that threatened. The Coromantee might have given way to a feeling of fatalism, peculiar to his country and class, but there was no danger of Ben Brace doing so. Notwith- standing las faith about Being protected by ProvHence, tht J20 THE OCEAN WAIFS, jailor also believed, that self-action is required on the part of those who stand in need of such protection ; and that nothing should be left undone to deserve it. The situation was altogether new to them. It was the Srst thing in the shape of a storm, or even a gale, they had encountered since the construction of their curious craft. Ever since the burning of the Pandora, they had been highly favored in this respect. They had been navigating their various embarkations through a " summer sea," in the midst of the tropical ocean, where ofttimes whole weeks elapse without either winds or waves occurring to disturb its tranquillity, a sea, in short, where the " calm " is more dreaded than the " storm." Up to this time they had not experienced any violent commotion of the atmosphere, nothing stronger than what is termed a " fresh breeze," and in that the Catamaran had proved herself an accomplished sailer. It was now to be seen how she would behave under a gale that might end in a storm, perhaps a terrific tempest. It would be untrue to say that her crew looked forward to the event without fear. They did not. As said, they suffered considerable apprehension ; and would have felt it more keenly, but for the cheering influence of that faith with which her captain was sustained, and which he en- deavored to impart to his companions. Leaning upon this, they looked with less dread upon the sky lowering above and the storm gathering around them. As the day advanced the wind continued to freshen until about the hour of noon. It was then blowing a brisk gale. Fortunately for the crew of the Catamaran, it did not be- ujme a storm. Had it done so their frail craft must have been shivered, and her component parts once more scat- tered over the ocean. It was just as much as her crew could accomplish to keep them together, in a sea only moderately rough, compared A THREATENED STORM. 321 irith what it would have been in a storm. This they dis- covered during the afternoon of that day; and it was no great comfort to them to reflect that, in the event of a real storm being encountered, the Catamaran would undoubtedly go to pieces. They could only console themselves with tha hope that such an event might not arise until they should reach land, or, which was perhaps more probable, be picked up by a ship. The chances of terminating their perilous voyage in either way were so slight and distant, that they scarce gave thought to them. When they did, it was only to be remind- ed of the extreme hopelessness of their situation, and yield to despairing reflections. On that particular day they had no time to speculate upon such remote probabilities as the ultimate ending of their voyage. They found occupation enough, both for their minds and bodies, in insuring its continuance. Not only had they to watch every wave as it came rolling upon them, and keep the Catamaran trimly set to receive it, but they had to look to the timbers of the craft, and see that the lashings did not get loose. Several times did the sea break quite over them ; and but that Lilly Lalee and little William were fast tied to the foot of the mast, they would both have been washed off, and probably lost amidst the dark waste of waters. It was just as much as the two strong men could do to keep aboard and even they had ropes knotted round their wrists and attached to the timbers of the raft, in case of their getting carried overboard. Once a huge billow swept over, submerging them several feet under the sea. At this crisis all four thought that their last hour had come, and for- some seconds were under the belief that they were going to the bottom, and would nerei more look upon the light of day. But for the peculiar construction of their raft this, in all likelihood, would have been the result; bvt those H* v 822 THE OCEAN WAIFS. water -casks were not to be " drowned " in such a fashion and soon ' bobbed" back to the surface, once more bringing the Catamaran and her crew above water. It was fortunate for them that Ben Brace and SnowtaU had not trusted too much to fate while constructing their abnormal craft. The experienced sailor had foreseen the difficulties that on this day beset them; and, instead of making a mere temporary embarkation, to suit the condi- tions of the summer sea that then surrounded them, he had spared no pains to render it seaworthy as far as circum- stances would allow. He and Snowball had used their united strength in drawing tight the cords with which the timbers were bound together, as well as those that lashed them to the casks, and their united skill in disposing the rude materials in a proper manner. Even after " launching " the Catamaran, every day, almost every hour, had they been doing something to im- prove her, either by giving the craft greater strength and compactness, or in some other way rendering her more worthy both of the sea and her sailors. By this providential industry they were now profiting: since by it, and it alone, were they enabled to " ride out " the gale. Had they trusted to chance and given way to indolence, all the more natural under the very hopelessness of their situation, they would never have outlived that day. The Catamaran might not have gone to the bottom, but she would have gone to pieces; and it is not likely that any of her crew would have survived the catastrophe. As it was, both raft and crew weathered the gale in safety. Before sunset the wind had fallen to a gentle zephyr ; the tropical sea was gradually returning to its normal state of comparative calm ; and the Catamaran, with her broad sail once more spread to the bree7, was scudding on, guided in her course by the golden luminary slowly descending towards the western edge of o> cloudless heaven^ A STARTLING SHRIEK. 323 CHAPTER LXXXIX. A STARTLING SHRIEK. THE night proved pleasanter than the day. The wind was no longer an enemy; and the breeze that suc- ceeded was more advantageous than would have been a dead calm; since it steadied the craft amidst the rolling of the swell. Before midnight the swell itself had subsided. It had never reached any great height, as the gale had been of short continuance ; and for the same reason it had suddenly gone down again. With the return of smooth water they were able to betake ihemselves to rest They needed it, after such a series of fatigues and fears ; and having swallowed a few morsels of their unpalatable food, and washed it down by a cup of diluted Canary, they all went to rest. Neither the wet planking on which they were compelled to encouch themselves, nor the sea-soaked garments clinging round their bodies, hindered them from obtaining sleep. In a colder clime their condition would have been suffi- iiently comfortless; but in the ocean atmosphere of the torrid zone the night hours are warm enough to render " wet sheets " not only endurable, but at times even pleasant. I have said that all of them went to sleep. It was not their usual custom to do so. On other nights one was always upon the watch, either the captain himself, the ex-cook, or the boy. Of course Lilly Lalee enjoyed im- munity from this kind of duty : since she was not, properly speaking, one of the " crew," but only a " passenger." Their customary night-watch had a twofold object: to hold the Catamaran to her course, and to keep a lookout over the sea, the latter having reference to the chancel f seeing a sail. 824 THE OCEAN WAIFS. On this particular night their vigil, had it been kept, might have had a threefold purpose : for it is not to be for- gotten that they were still not so very far from their late pursuers. They too must have been making way with the wind. Neither had the Catamarans forgotten it ; but even with this thought before their minds, they were unable to resist the fascinations of Morpheus ; and leaving the craft to take her own course, the ships, if there were any, to sail silently by, and the big raft, if chance so directed it, to overtake them, they yielded themselves to unconscious slumber. Simultaneously were they awakened, and by a sound that might have awakened the dead. It was a shriek that came pealing over the surface of the ocean, as unearthly in its intonation as if only the ocean itself could have pro- duced it! It was short, sharp, quick, and clear; and so loud as to startle even Snowball from his torpidity. The Coromantee was the first to inquire into its char- acter. '* Wha' de debbil am dat ? " he asked, rubbing his ears to make sure that he was not laboring under a delusion. " Shiver my timbers if I can tell ! " rejoined the sailor, equally puzzled by what he had heard. " Dat soun' berry like da voice o' some 'un go drown, berry like. Wha' say you, Massa Brace ? " " It was a good bit like the voice of a man cut in two by a shark. That 's what it minded me of." " By golly ! you speak de '.roof. It wa jess like that, jess like the lass s'riek ob Massa Grow." " And yet," continued the sailor, after a moment's reflec- tion, " 't war n't like that neyther. 'T war n't human, no- tow : leastwise, I niver heerd such come out o' a human throat" " A don't b'lieb de big raff can be near. We hab been runnin' down de wind ebba since you knock off dat boat- A STARTLING SHRINK. 323 hook. We got de start o' de Pandoras; an' dar's no mis take but we hab kep de distance. Dat s'riek no come from dem." "Look yonder!" cried little William, interrupting the dialogue. " I see something." " Whereaway ? What like be it ? " inquired the sailor. " Yonder I " answered the lad, pointing over the starboard bow of the Catamaran; "about three cables' length cut in Ihe water. It 's a black lump ; it looks like a boat." " A boat ! Shiver my timbers if thee bean't right, lad. I see it now. It do look somethin' as you say. But what 'ud a boat be doin' here, out in the middle o' the At- lantic?" "Dat am a boat," interposed Snowball. "Fo' sartin it ana." "It must be," said the sailor, after more carefully scru- tinizing it. " It is ! I see its shape better now. There 's Borne un in it. I see only one ; ah, he be standin' up in the middle o' it, like a mast. It be a man though ; an' I dare say the same as gi'ed that shout, if he be a human ; though, sartin, there war n't much human in it." As if to confirm the sailor's last assertion, the shriek waa repeated, precisely as it had been uttered before; though now, entering ears that were awake, it produced a somewhat different impression. The voice was evidently that of a man. Even under the circumstances, it could be nothing else, but of a man who had taken leave of his senses. It was the wild cry of maniac ! The crew of the Catamaran might have continued in doubt as to this had they been treated only to a repetition of the shriek ; but this was followed by a series of speeches, incoherent, it is true, but spoken in an intelligible tongue, and ending in a peal of laughter such as might be heard echoing long the corridors of T -lunatic asylum ! 826 THE OCEAN WAIFS. One and all of them stood looking and listening. It was a moonless night, and had been a dark one ; but i, was now close upon morning. Already had the aurora tinged the horizon with roseate hues. The gray light of dawn was beginning to scatter its soft rays over the surface of the ocean ; ai:d objects had there been any could be distinguished at a considerable distance. Certainly there was an object, a thing of boat-shape, with a human form standing near its middle. It was a boat, a man in it ; and, from the exclamation and laughter to which they had listened, there could be no doubt about the man being mad. Mad or sane, why should they shun him ? There were two strong men on the raft, who need not fear to encounter a lunatic under any circumstances, even in the midst of the ocean. Nor did they fear it ; for as soon as they became fally convinced that they saw a boat with a man in it, they "ported" the helm of the Catamaran, and stood directly towards it. Less than ten minutes' sailing in the altered course brought them within fair view of the object that had caused them to deviate ; and, after scrutinizing it, less than ten seconds en- abled them to satisfy their minds as to the strange craft and its yet stranger occupant. They saw before them the " gig " of the slaver ; and, stand- ing " midships " in the boat, just half-way tietween stem and stern, they saw the captain of that ill-starred, ill-fated A MADMAN IN MID-OCEAN. 82? CHAPTER XC. A MADMAN IN MID-OCEAN. IN the minds of the Catamaran's crew there was no longer any cause for conjectnre. The boat-shaped object on th water, and the human form standing up within it, were mys- teries no more ; nor was there any when that boat and that human being were identified. If in the spectacle there was aught still to puzzle them, it was the seeing only one man in the boat instead of six. There should have been six ; since that was the number that the gig had originally carried away from the burning bark, five others besides the one now seen, and who, notwithstanding a great change in his appearance, was still recognizable as the slaver's captain. Where were the missing men, the mates, the carpenter and two common sailors, who had escaped along with him ? Were they in the boat, lying down, and so concealed from the view of those upon the Catamaran ? Or had they succumbed to some fearful fate, leaving only that solitary survivor ? The gig sat high in the water. Those upon the Catamaran could not see over its gunwale unless by approaching nearer, and this they hesitated to do. Indeed, on identifying the boat and the individual stand- ing in it, they had suddenly hauled down the sail and were lying to, using their oar to keep them from drifting any nearer. They had done so from an instinctive apprehension They knew that the men who had gone off in the gig were not a whit better than those upon the big raft; for the officers of the slaver, in point of ruffianism, were upon a par with their crew. With this knowledge, it was a ques- 328 THE OCEAN WAIFS. lion for consideration whether the Catamarans would be safe in approaching the boat. If the six were still in it, and out of food and water, like those on the large raft, they would undoubtedly despoil the Catamaran, just as the others had designed doing. From such as they no mercy need be expected ; and as it was not likely any succor could be ob- tained from them, it would, perhaps, be better, in every way, to "give them a wide berth." Such were the thoughts that passed hastily through the mind of Ben Brace, and were communicated to his com- panions. Were the five missing men still aboard the boat ? They might be lying down along the bottom, though it was not likely they could be asleep ? That appeared almost impossible, considering the shouts and screams which the captain at intervals still continued to send forth. " Ba de great gorramity ! " muttered Snowball, " a doan't b'lieb one ob dem 's leff 'board dat boat, 'ceptin de ole 'kipper himseff ; an ob him dar am nuffin leff cep'n de body. Dat man's intlek am clar gone. He am ravin' mad ! " " You 're right, Snowy," assented the sailor ; " there be ne'er a one there but himself. At all events they ain't all there. I can tell by the way the gig sits up out o' the water. No boat o' her size, wi' six men aboard, could have her gunnel as high as that ere. No ! If there be any besides the captain, there 's only one or two. We need n't fear to go as nigh as we like. Let 's put about, an' board the craft, any how. What pay ye?" " Haben't de leas' objecsnun, Massa Brace, so long you link dar no fear. Dis chile ready take de chance. If dar be any odder cep'n de 'kipper, it no like dey am 'trong 'nuff to bully we nohow. De two ob us be equal match fo' any four ob dem, say nuffin ob lilly Will'm." " 1 feel a'most sartin," rejoined the sailor, still undecided, * there be only him. If that 's the case, our best way is to A MADMAN IN MID-OCEAN. 329 close up, and take possession o' the boat. We ntay Lave some trouble wi' him if he 's gone mad ; an' from the way he be runnin' on, it do look like it. Never mind ! I dare say we '11 be able to manage him. Port about, an' let 'a see the thing through." Snowball was at the steering-oar, and, thus commanded by her captain, he once more headed the Catamaran in the direction of the drifting boat, while the sailor and William betook them to the oars. Whether the occupant of the gig had yet perceived the raft was not certain. It is likely he had not, since the yells and incoherent speeches to which he had been giving utter- ance appeared to be addressed to no one, but were more rika what they believed them to be the wild ravings of a lunatic. It was still only the gray twilight of morning, with a slight fog upon the water; and although through this the Cata- marans had recognized the gig and captain of the Pandora^ they had done so with certain souvenirs to guide them. Both the boat and its occupant had been seen only indistinctly : and it was possible that the latter had not seen them, and was still unsuspicious of their presence. As they drew nearer, the light at each moment increasing in brightness, there was no longer any uncertainty as to theii being seen ; for, along with the yells uttered by the occupant of the gig, could be heard the significant speeches of, " Sail ho! Ship ahoy! What ship's that? Heave to, and be ! Heave to, you infernal lubbers ! if you don't I '11 sink you!" The manner in which these varied phrases were jumblod together, intermingled with screeching exclamations, as well as the excited and grotesque gestures that accompanied them, might have been ludicrous, but for the painful impression it produced. There was no longer any doubt in the minds of those whf S30 THE OCEAN WAIFS. witnessed his behavior, that the ex-skippei of the Pandor* was mad. None but a madman would have spoken, 01 acted, as he wa doing. In the state he was in, it would be dangerous to gc near him. This was evident to the occupants of the raft ; and when they had arrived within a half-cable's length of the boat, they suspended the stroke of the oars, with the inten- tion of entering upon a parley, and seeing how far their words might tranquillize him. " Captain ! " cried the sailor, hailing his former commander in a friendly tone of voice : " it 's me ! Don't you know me ? It 's Ben Brace, one o' the old Pandora. We 've been on this bit o' raft ever since the burnin' o' the bark. Myself and Snowball " At this moment the sailor's epitomized narrative was in- terrupted by a fiendish yell, proceeding from the throat of the maniac. They were now near enough to have a clear view of his face, and could note the expression of his features. The play of these, and the wild rolling of his eyes, confirmed them in their belief as to his insanity. There could be no doubt about it ; but if there had, what soon after succeeded was proof sufficient to satisfy them. During the continuance of the discourse addressed to him by the sailor, he had kept silent, until the word " Snow- ball " fell upon his ears. Then all at once he became terri- bly excited, as was testified by a terrible shriek, a twitch- ing contortion of his features, and a glaring in his eyes that was awful to befiolcT. " Snowball ! " screamed he ; " Snowoall, you say, do you ? Snowball, the infernal dog! Show him to me ! Ach! Blood and furies ! it was he that fired my ship. Where is he ? Let me at him ! Let me lay my hands upon his black throat ! I ll teach the sneaking nigger how to carry a iandie that '11 light him into the next world. Snowball Where, where is he?" THE INSANE SWIMMER. 831 At this moment his rolling orbs became suddenly steadied , and all could see that his gaze was fixed upon the Coro- mantee with a sort of desperate identification. Snowball might have quailed under that glance, had there been time for him to take heed of it. But there was not : for upon the instant it was given the madman uttered another wild screech, and, rising into the air, sprang several feet over the gunwale of the gig. For a second or two he was lost to sight under the water Then, rising to the surface, he was seen swimming with vifif- orous sweep towards the Catamaran. CHAPTER XCI. THE INSANE SWIMMER. A DOZEN strokes would have carried him up to the craft ; which they could not have hindered him from boarding, except by using some deadly violence. To avoid this, the oars were plied ; and the raft rapidly pulled in a contrary direction. For all this, so swiftly did the maniac make way through the water, that it was just as much as they could do to keep the Catamaran clear of his grasp ; and it was only after Ben Brace and Snowball had got fairly bent to their oars, that they could insure themselves against being overtaken. Then became it a chase in which there was no great advantage in speed between the pursued and the pursuer ; though what little there might have been was in favor of the former. How long this singular chase might have continued, it la impossible to say. Perhaps until the lunatic had exhausted his insane strength, and sunk into the sea : since he appeared 832 THE OCEAN WAIFS. have no Idea of making an attempt to return to the boat He never looked round to see how far he was leaving it be- hind him. On the contrary, he swam straight on, his eye* steadfastly fixed upon the one object that seemed to have possession of his soul, the Coromantee ! That it was of him only he was thinking could be told from his speech, for even while in the water he continued to utter impreca- tions on the head of the negro, his name being every moment mentioned in terms of menace. The chase could not have lasted much longer, even had it been permitted to terminate by the exhaustion of the insane swimmer. The supernatural strength of insanity could not forever sustain him ; and in due time he would have sunk helplessly to the bottom of the sea. But this was not the sort of death that Fate had designed for him. A still more violent ending of his life was in store for the unfortunate wretch. Though he himself knew it not, those aboard the Catamaran had now become aware of its approach. Behind him, scarce half a cable's length, two crea- tures were seen moving through the water. Horrible-look- ing creatures they were: for they were hammer-headed sharks ! Both were conspicuously seen : for they had risen to the surface, and were swimming with their dark dorsal fins protruded above, and set with all the triangular sharp- ness of staysails. Although they had not been observed before by those on the Catamaran, they appeared to have been swimming in the proximity of the gig, on which, beyond doubt, they had been for some time attending. They were now advancing side by side, in the same direc- tion as the swimmer, and there could be no doubt as to their design. They were evidently in chase of him, with as much eagerness as he was in chase of the Catamaran. The wretched man neither saw nor thought of them. Even had he seen them it is questionable whether he would THE INSANE SWIMMER. 333 have made any attempt to escape from them. They would, in all likelihood, have appeared a part of the fearful phan tasmagoria already filling his brain. In any case he couid not have eluded those earnest and eager pursuers, unless by the intervention of those upon the raft ; and even had these wished to succor him, it would have required a most prompt and adroit interference. They did wish it, even became desirous to save him. Their hearts melted within them as they saw the unfortunate man, maniac though he was, in such a situation. Fear him as they might, and deem him an enemy as they did, still was he a human being, one of their own kind, and their natural instinct of hostility towards those ravenous monsters of the deep had now obliterated that which they might have felt for him about to become their prey. Risking everything from the encounter which they might expect with a madman, they suspended their oars, and then commenced backing towards him. Even Snowball exerted himself to bring the Catamaran within saving distance of the wretch who, in his insane hatred, was threatening his own destruction. Their goods intentions, however, proved of no avail. The man was destined to destruction. Before they could get near enough to make any effective demonstration in his fa- vor, the sharks had closed upon him. They who would have saved him saw it, and ceased their exertions to become spec- tators of the tragical catastrophe. It was a brief affair. The monsters swam up, one on each side of their intended victim, till their uncouth bodies were parallel with his. He saw one of them first, and, with tin instinct more true than his dethroned powers of reason, swerved out of the way to avoid it. The effort resulted in placing him within reach of the other, that, suddenly turn- ing upon its side, grasped him between its extended jaws. The shriek that followed appeared to proceed from only 334 THE OCEAN WAIFS. the half of his body ; for the other half, completely disscv ered, had been already carried off between the terrible teeth of the zyg&na. There was but one cry. There was not tin;e for another, even had there been strength. Before it could have been uttered, the remaining inoiety of the madman's body was aeized by the second shark, and borne down into the voice less abysm of the ocean ! CHAPTER XCII. BOARDING THE BOAT. BACK to the boat ! In the minds of the Catamaran's crew naturally did this resolve succeed to the spectacle they had just witnessed. There was nothing to stay them on that spot. The blood- stained water, which momentarily marked the scene of the tragedy, had no further interest for those who had been spec- tators to it ; and once more heading their craft for the drift- ing gig, they made way towards it as fast as their oars and the sail, now reset, would carry them. They no longer speculated as to the boat being occupied by a crew, either sleeping or awake. In view of the events that had occurred, it was scarce possible that any one, in either condition, could be aboard of her. She must huv