Carey's chickens were flying about the stern.
Shedden must needs get at his gun to shoot them. The old black woman sat
near the taffrail; she saw him with his gun, but she said nothing. At
last he fired, and killed three of them.

"'There are three down!' cried out some of the other passengers.

"'How many?' said the old woman, raising her head; '_three!_ Then count
the sharks which are coming up.'

"'Count the sharks, mother! why count them? There's plenty of them,'
replied Shedden, laughing.

"'I tell you that there will be but three sent,' replied the old woman,
who then sunk down her head and said no more.

"Well, the negroes who were passengers on board, most of them Mr.
Shedden's slaves, looked very blank, for they knew that old Etau never
spoke without reason. In about ten minutes afterward, three large sharks
swam up to the vessel, with their fins above water.

"'There's the three sharks, sure enough!' said the passengers.

"'Are they come?' said Etau, raising her head.

"'Yes, moder, dere dey be--very large shark,' replied one of the
negroes.

"'Then three are doomed,' said the old woman, 'and here we stay, and the
waves shall not run, nor the wind blow, till the three sharks have their
food. I say three are doomed!'

"The passengers were more or less alarmed with this prophecy of old
Etau's, according as they put faith in her. However, they all went to
bed quite well, and the next morning they got up the same. Still there
was not a breath of wind, the whole sea was as smooth as glass, and the
vessel laid where she was the night before, in about six fathoms of
water, about a mile from the reef, and you could see the coral rocks
beneath her bottom as plain as if they were high and dry; and what
alarmed them the next morning was that the three large sharks were still
slowly swimming round and round the schooner. All that day it remained a
dead calm, and the heat was dreadful, although the awnings were spread.
Night came on, and the people, becoming more frightened, questioned old
Etau, but all the answer she gave was, '_Three_ are doomed!'

"The passengers and crew were now terrified out of their wits, and they
all went to bed with very melancholy forebodings, for the elements
appeared as if they were arrested till the penalty was paid. For, you
observe, pilot, there is always a light breeze as regular as the sun
rises and goes down; but now the breezes only appeared to skirt the
land, and when they