After this conversation we were left
alone, and sitting down on deck, I was very soon fast asleep. I was
awoke by a man bringing me a mess of some sort to eat, and when I had
devoured it I should have fallen asleep again, but the captain came up
and told me that I might turn into a spare cabin on deck. Taking off my
clothes, I threw myself on the bed, and slept without moving till the
grey light of dawn came in at the scuttle. I was awoke by a loud
jabbering and swearing, and presently the sound of a gun came booming
over the water. There was then the noise of blocks creaking and ropes
rattling, denoting that more sail was being made on the vessel. I
dressed quickly and opened the door of my cabin, but scarcely had I
stepped out on deck when my shoulder was roughly seized by the captain
of the slaver, while with his other hand he pointed to a large brig
about three miles off, under all sail, standing directly for our
larboard quarter.

"What craft is that?" he asked, fiercely. "Your men say they do not
know her. Do you?"

I looked again. I had no doubt she was the _Opossum_. "If I am not
mistaken, she is the ship to which I belong," I replied, calmly.

"Is she fast?" he asked.

"She is reputed so," I answered. "But I doubt it she is so fast as this
vessel."

"For your sakes, as well as for ours, it is to be hoped not," he
observed, with a grin which I thought perfectly demoniacal. "If she
overhauls us, we shall be obliged to put into execution a trick we play
at times, when too hotly pursued by your cruisers; only, instead of
expending our negroes, who are valuable, we shall be compelled to make
use of you and your people. It will be happy for you, if there are no
sharks ready to grab you before your ship lowers a boat to pick you up.
You understand me?"

I did, too well. The slavers, when hotly pressed by a cruiser, will
throw overboard some of their blacks, one by one, lashed to something to
float them, trusting that the humanity of the British commander will
induce him to heave-to, and to pick them up, although thus delaying him
in his chase.

I felt very sure my one-eyed friend would put his threat into execution;
and though it certainly afforded us a way of getting back to our ship,
the risk in the interim of being caught by a shark was far too great to
be contemplated with equanimity.

"If you do throw us overboard, I only hope that you will provide us with
sticks, or some weapons with whi