ll be in his cabin, along
with any other papers of value that he may have had in his possession."

"Quite so; most likely they are," I remarked. "I'll go on board and
give the craft an overhaul. Jump on deck, a couple of you, to lend me a
hand in case I should need you; and catch a turn with the painter
somewhere."

So saying, I climbed up on the ship's poop, and with considerable
difficulty--owing to the exceedingly steep slope of the deck--made my
way to the companion, which I descended. At the foot of the ladder, I
found myself confronted by a bulkhead which, as I soon found,
partitioned off the captain's quarters from the other part of the ship.
Opening a door that faced me, I entered a fine, handsome cabin,
magnificently fitted up, and very little damaged, except that the two
guns which had evidently been in it seemed to have broken adrift and
gone through the vessel's side, the gun on the weather side having
smashed a handsome mahogany table to smithereens in its passage athwart
the cabin. There were stains of wet on the sofas on the lee side and on
the carpeted deck, showing that the water had entered through the breach
in the ship's side: but that, with the smashed table and the hole in the
side, constituted all the visible damage in the cabin. There was
another bulkhead in front of me, with an open door in it, through which
I caught a glimpse of stern windows, together with certain indications
that the cabin into which I was looking was in all probability the
captain's state-room. Here, if anywhere, I thought I should be most
likely to find the despatches which constituted the chief object of my
search; and I accordingly made my way into the after-cabin. A handsome
and roomy cot, slung on the starboard side, confirmed my impression that
this must be the captain's private sanctum; and I at once looked round
for a likely receptacle for papers of importance and other articles of
value. I had not far to look. Close to the door, against the bulkhead,
stood a massive and handsome cabinet writing-table, so placed that the
light from the stern windows would fall over a sitter's shoulders on to
the table. Right up against the starboard side of the ship stood a
large chest of drawers, with the top arranged as a dressing-table: and
against the port side was a book-case with glazed doors, three or four
of the panes of glass being smashed so completely that several of the
volumes had tumbled out on to the floor.