d giving her the appearance of being alive.

"Poor thing!" I whispered to Mr Jellaby, who was near me and also
gazing down at her, the presence of the dead making me drop my voice.
"She was drowned, I suppose?"

"Murdered!" he replied laconically, drawing my attention to a terrible
cut across her neck, which I had not observed before, almost severing
the head from the body. "Look there--and there, Vernon!"

I followed the motions of his directing hand, and saw, first, a poor
little dead baby floating about in the corner of the cabin; and then,
behind the door by which we had entered, the corpse of a big, handsome
man propped up against one of the lockers, in a kneeling position.

The man was only half-dressed, being in his shirt and trousers, as if
caught unawares, holding a cocked revolver yet in his rigid fingers,
stretched out in steady aim; while, at the further end of the cabin,
where there was another doorway, communicating apparently with the main
saloon, lay four ruffianly-looking fellows, all with long Spanish knives
in their hands tightly clutched as if to strike.

These scoundrels had evidently killed the lady and little baby, and had
then been shot by the poor chap on his knees, before he had himself
fallen a victim to the cowardly stab from behind of a fifth scoundrel.

The latter he had got down, however, before he died; for, he was
kneeling on his chest, as the second lieutenant pointed out to me prior
to our leaving this chamber of horrors, though the villain's dagger was
still sticking in the brave fellow's back.

I could see this now for myself as a gleam of sunshine came down through
the shattered skylight, showing up all the hideous details of the place,
with the sides of the cabin and the bulkhead dividing it from the
passage, as well as the deck beams overhead, all spattered with blood;
albeit, the water sluicing about below had removed all traces of the sad
tragedy from thence long since.

"Let us go now," said Mr Jellaby, as soon as I had taken in all these
sickening surroundings, leading the way out of the accursed place. "We
have stopped here long enough!"

"We have indeed, sir," I replied, following him up the companion, with
Bill Bates bringing up the rear in silence. "But, what do you think has
happened, sir?"

"It's a case of mutiny first, most probably; and then, murder," said the
second lieutenant, gravely, stepping over the coaming of the hatchway on
to the deck of the poo