e furiously but in silence, evidently
baffled by my resolute air and the position of the men. Then he said
something to the captain, who looked exhausted and white and haggard
with his useless passion. They walked over to the lee side of the
poop; and after a short conference, the captain to my surprise went
below, and Duckling came forward.

"There's no objection," he said, "to your saving the man's life, if you
want. Lower away the starboard quarter-boat,--and you go along in
her," he added to me, uttering the last words in such a thick voice
that I thought he was choking.

"Come along, some of you!" I cried out, hastily putting on my coat; and
in less than a minute I was in the boat with the rudder and thole-pins
shipped, and four hands ready to out oars as soon as we touched the
water.

Duckling began to fumble at one end of the boat's falls.

"Don't let him lower away!" roared out one of the men in the boat.
"He'll let us go with a run. He'd like to see us drowned!"

Duckling fell back, scowling with fury; and shoving his head over as
the boat sunk quietly into the water, he discharged a volley of
execrations at us, saying that he would shoot some of us, if he swung
for it, before he was done, and especially applying a heap of abusive
terms to me.

The fellow pulling the bow oar laughed in his face; and another shouted
out, "We'll teach you to say your prayers yet, you ugly old sinner!"

We got away from the ship's side cleverly, and in a short time were
rowing fast for the wreck. The excitement under which I labored made
me reckless of the issue of this adventure. The sight of the lonely
man upon the wreck, coupled with the unmanly, brutal intention of Coxon
to leave him to his fate, had goaded me into a state of mind infuriate
enough to have done and dared anything to _compel_ Coxon to save him.
He might call it mutiny, but I called it humanity; and I was prepared
to stand or fall by my theory. The hate the crew had for their captain
and chief mate was quite strong enough to guarantee me against any foul
play on the part of Coxon; otherwise I might have prepared myself to
see the ship fill and stand away, and leave us alone on the sea with
the wreck. One of the men in the boat suggested this; but another
immediately answered, "They'd pitch the skipper overboard if he gave
such an order, and glad o' the chance. There's no love for 'em among
us, I can tell you; and by ----! there'll be bloody work