n, succeeded in
laying hold of the cut rope that hung from the stern, and clambered
quickly upon deck. Bill caught sight of him the instant his head
appeared above the taffrail. But he did not cease to row, and did not
appear even to notice the savage until he was within a yard of him; then,
dropping the sweep, he struck him a blow on the forehead with his
clenched fist that felled him to the deck. Lifting him up he hurled him
overboard and resumed the oar. But now a greater danger awaited us, for
the savages had outrun us on the bank and were about to plunge into the
water ahead of the schooner. If they succeeded in doing so our fate was
sealed. For one moment Bill stood irresolute. Then, drawing a pistol
from his belt, he sprang to the brass gun, held the pan of his pistol
over the touch-hole and fired. The shot was succeeded by the hiss of the
cannon's priming, then the blaze and the crashing thunder of the
monstrous gun burst upon the savages with such deafening roar that it
seemed as if their very mountains had been rent asunder.

This was enough. The moment of surprise and hesitation caused by the
unwonted sound, gave us time to pass the point; a gentle breeze, which
the dense foliage had hitherto prevented us from feeling, bulged out our
sails; the schooner bent before it, and the shouts of the disappointed
savages grew fainter and fainter in the distance as we were slowly wafted
out to sea.

CHAPTER XXVII.

Reflections--The wounded man--The squall--True consolation--Death.

There is a power of endurance in human beings, both in their bodies and
in their minds, which, I have often thought, seems to be wonderfully
adapted and exactly proportioned to the circumstances in which
individuals may happen to be placed,--a power which, in most cases, is
sufficient to carry a man through and over every obstacle that may happen
to be thrown in his path through life, no matter how high or how steep
the mountain may be, but which often forsakes him the moment the summit
is gained, the point of difficulty passed; and leaves him prostrated,
with energies gone, nerves unstrung, and a feeling of incapacity
pervading the entire frame that renders the most trifling effort almost
impossible.

During the greater part of that day I had been subjected to severe mental
and much physical excitement, which had almost crushed me down by the
time I was relieved from duty in the course of the evening. But when the
exp