e then turned down the head of the mattress on
which he had been lying, and with his penknife (for the ruffians had
not thought it worth while to search him) commenced cutting vigorously
across one of the partition planks, as closely as possible to the floor
of the berth. He chose to cut here, because, if suddenly interrupted, he
would be able to conceal what had been done by letting the head of the
mattress fall into its proper position. For the remainder of the day,
however, no disturbance occurred, and by night he had completely divided
the plank. It should here be observed that none of the crew occupied the
forecastle as a sleeping-place, living altogether in the cabin since
the mutiny, drinking the wines and feasting on the sea-stores of Captain
Barnard, and giving no more heed than was absolutely necessary to the
navigation of the brig. These circumstances proved fortunate both for
myself and Augustus; for, had matters been otherwise, he would have
found it impossible to reach me. As it was, he proceeded with confidence
in his design. It was near daybreak, however, before he completed the
second division of the board (which was about a foot above the first
cut), thus making an aperture quite large enough to admit his passage
through with facility to the main orlop deck. Having got here, he made
his way with but little trouble to the lower main hatch, although in so
doing he had to scramble over tiers of oil-casks piled nearly as high as
the upper deck, there being barely room enough left for his body. Upon
reaching the hatch he found that Tiger had followed him below, squeezing
between two rows of the casks. It was now too late, however, to attempt
getting to me before dawn, as the chief difficulty lay in passing
through the close stowage in the lower hold. He therefore resolved to
return, and wait till the next night. With this design, he proceeded to
loosen the hatch, so that he might have as little detention as possible
when he should come again. No sooner had he loosened it than Tiger
sprang eagerly to the small opening produced, snuffed for a moment, and
then uttered a long whine, scratching at the same time, as if anxious
to remove the covering with his paws. There could be no doubt, from
his behaviour, that he was aware of my being in the hold, and Augustus
thought it possible that he would be able to get to me if he put him
down. He now hit upon the expedient of sending the note, as it was
especially desirab