ir amusement, but to enable them, it was supposed, better to
digest their food. Each black after this received about a pint of
water, the whole allowance for the day.

Below the slave-deck were stowed the leaguers, which are huge
water-casks, together with the provisions, wood for firing, etcetera.
The upper deck was kept perfectly clear, to enable the crew to work the
sweeps during calms. There was no poop, but on either side were two
cabins, six or eight feet long, and three or four wide, to serve as
sleeping places for the captain and officers; the crew lived forward,
under the topgallant forecastle. The vessel had but one small boat,
carried amidships, in which articles of all sorts were stowed, so that
if a man had fallen overboard it would have been next to impossible to
pick him up. This is a description of most slaving-vessels, though
steamers have of late years been largely employed.

Adair and Desmond paced the deck for an hour or more, stopping every now
and then to listen. No sound could be heard coming from any direction,
and the town was too far off for the hum of its human hive to reach
them.

It was now nearly ten o'clock. Adair had ordered Snatchblock not to
strike the bell, as it might show the slavers, should any be meditating
an attack, that those on board the prize were on the alert, and make
them approach more cautiously than they might otherwise be inclined to
do.

Adair had brought a stool from the cabin, and sat down, leaning against
the outside.

"Go in and get some sleep," he said to Desmond, "I will call you if you
are wanted."

"I am not tired, and if you will allow me I will go forward and try if I
can hear anything. I fancied just now that I caught the sound of
several splashes in the water, as if fish were leaping in the distance,"
answered Desmond.

He made his way to the topgallant-forecastle, lay down and listened.
The sound he had heard became more regular, though still very faint; he
was certain, however, that it was the dip of oars in the water. He
waited, however, before informing Adair, knowing that there would be
time enough when the boats came in sight, as all hands were prepared for
action.

"Perhaps, after all, they are not coming this way," he thought; "yes,
they must be, though," he said to himself; "the sounds are much more
distinct than when I first heard them."

At length he made out several dark objects emerging from the mist. He
at once hurried aft