who was close to Jackson,
staring at him in a most peculiar manner.

I never saw in anyone before such a fixed steady glare!

The man seemed out of his senses or bewildered by something, for his
eyes moved about strangely, although with a savage gleam in them, while
his hair appeared to bristle up.

"Well, what is the matter?" said Jackson at length, after enduring his
gaze for a moment or two, waiting for the other to speak. "Do you want
water? Shall I get you some?"

This apparently broke the spell which was upon the wretched man, whose
constitution had been much enfeebled by his drinking habits--making him
thus less able to contend against the exposure and privations | we had
been subjected to than the rest of us.

The minute Jackson spoke, he uttered a queer sort of half-groan, half-
shriek; and having previously, I suppose, untied the rope with which he
had been lashed to the rigging, he made a dash at the second mate with
both his hands, trying to grip his throat and strangle him.

"You devil!" he cried, foaming at the mouth with passion, "you've taken
my place and brought me to this."

Jackson easily repulsed his struggles to do him any injury; but, before
he and the other sailors could secure the madman, he sprang to his feet
and, shouting out something which we could not distinguish, jumped right
down among the group of sharks that were still swimming about under the
stern.

There was a heavy plunge, followed by a wild scurrying to and fro in the
water of the moving fins; and, a moment after, when the sea had got
still again, a circle of blood on the surface alone told of the unhappy
man's fate.

The incident saddened us all very much, taking away our hopeful thoughts
and courage alike; so we waited on listlessly for what we now believed
must shortly be our own doom, not a soul speaking a word or even looking
at his neighbour for some time afterwards.

Jackson was the first to recover himself.

The sight of the cruel sharks under the ship's counter and the memory of
our two shipmates, whom they had already devoured, appeared to prey on
his mind and make him furious.

"I can't stand this any longer," he cried. "I must try and kill one of
these brutes, captain, or die in the attempt!"

Captain Miles thought he had gone out of his senses too and spoke
soothingly to him; but Jackson soon showed that if he had become insane
there was a method in his madness.

Rising on his feet, he walked on th