without surprise that I beheld what he did; beyond
this I reckoned nothing of it, nor would have done so had not matters of
the utmost importance afterwards recalled it to my attention.

That night I had no more appetite for sleep than the night before, and
finding little rest or ease in my cabin, was up upon deck for most of
the time. Though I did not choose just then to hold conversation with my
passengers, I noticed that they were all upon deck, where they sat
talking together in low tones. As the night advanced, however, they
betook themselves to their cabins, one after another, until only Captain
Leach was left sitting alone.

He remained there for maybe the space of half an hour, without moving a
hair's-breadth, so far as I could see. At the end of about that length
of time, being in a mightily anxious state, I stepped forward to see for
myself that the watch was keeping a sharp lookout. I was not gone for
more than a minute or two, but when I came back I saw that Captain Leach
was no longer where he had been before; yet although I noticed this
circumstance at the time, I gave no more thought to it than I would upon
an ordinary occasion.

As there was no one on the poop, I myself went up upon that deck, it
being so much cooler there than on the quarter-deck below. I took out
my pipe and filled it, thinking to have a quiet smoke, which is a most
efficacious manner of soothing any perturbation or fermentation of
spirits. Just as I was about to strike my flint for a light, I heard a
noise under the stern-sheets, as of some one stepping into a boat, and
almost immediately afterwards a slight splash, as of an oar or a paddle
dipped into the water. I ran hastily to the side of the vessel, and
looked astern and into the water below.

Although the sky was clear, the night was excessively dark, as one may
often see it in those tropical latitudes; yet I was as well assured that
a boat of some sort had left the ship as if I had seen it in broad
daylight, because of the phosphorescent trail which it left behind it in
its wake.

I had slipped a pistol into my belt before quitting my cabin, and as I
hailed the boat I drew it and cocked it, for I thought that the whole
occurrence was of a mightily suspicious nature. As I more than half
expected, I got no answer. "Boat, ahoy!" I cried out a second time, and
then, almost immediately, levelled my pistol and fired, for I saw that
whoever the stranger was, he had no mind to giv