ely been accustomed, to fear, that he felt
surprised at his own audacity, he went below to consult with his
coadjutors what was to be done. He cunningly had taken advantage of his
chief's late want of success, to ingratiate himself with the people, and
had employed all the ordinary arts of a demagogue to weaken the
authority of the man he wished to supplant; and he now gave the answer
to their message, with such exaggerations and alterations as he judged
would best suit his purpose, and inflame the minds of his hearers to the
proper pitch for executing his mutinous designs. He had, somewhat to
the surprise of Zappa, who, however, soon fathomed his reasons,
pretended to be ignorant of the navigation of the passage, through which
they were winding their way, that he might thus throw him more
completely off his guard. The largest portion of the crew had been won
over, and they were now summoned below to hear the decision of the rest,
and to put their plan into immediate execution. This may be guessed at;
it involved the instant destruction of their chief, as well as of the
unprotected girl, whom he refused to sacrifice to their fears.

Baldo had marked the ill-starred Nina as his own; and Paolo, who had
always been a favourite, and had never made an enemy, they intended to
preserve as useful to them in his former capacity of surgeon. Thus it
is, that the lawless can never depend for an instant on each other.

Zappa still stood at his post, issuing the necessary orders; and,
although gloomy forebodings were on his mind, he resolutely determined
to dare the worst, rather than yield. He marked the mutineers gradually
gliding off below, each man eyeing him as he went, still fearful of
being perceived, till, at last, the stations of many of them were
deserted; and he saw that, should any duty suddenly be required of them,
there were not hands to perform it.

"This must not be," he muttered. "They have already carried things too
far. I must recover my authority now, or I lose it, and am destroyed."

He gave a look to windward to see that the vessel was in no danger for
some minutes to come, and was advancing to the main hatchway, with his
sword in his hand, intending to spring down boldly among the mutineers,
and bring the matter to a crisis, by daring them to attack him, when his
eye glanced, for an instant, to leeward. That instant was sufficient to
create far greater alarm in his mind than had his mutinous crew.