ys, fiercely; `skipper falls over an'
sink; git among wrecks at de bottom, an' a nail scratch him.'

"Nobody answered, but when the corpse was put down in the hold the mate
examined it and found the broken point of Zola's knife stickin' in the
breast-bone.

"That night at supper, while they were all eatin' an' talkin' in low
tones, the mate said in an easy off-hand tone, `Hand me your knife,
Zola, for a moment.' Now, his askin' that was so natural-like that the
man at once did what he was asked, though next moment he saw the
mistake. His greatest mistake, however, was that he did not fling the
knife away when he found it was broken; but they do say that `murder
will out.' The mate at once fitted the point to the broken knife. Zola
leaped up and tried to snatch another knife from one o' the men, but
they was too quick for him. He was seized, and his hands tied, and they
were leadin' him along the deck to put him in the hold when he burst
from them and jumped overboard. They hove-to at once, an' out with the
boat, but never saw Zola again; he must have gone down like a stone."

"That was a terrible end," said Joe, "and him all unprepared to die."

"True, Joe, but are _we_ all prepared to die?" rejoined Evan, looking
around, earnestly. "It is said that there's a day comin' when the sea
shall give up _all_ its dead, and the secrets of men, whatever they are,
shall be revealed."

From this point Evan, whose earnest spirit was always hungering after
the souls of men, led the conversation to religious subjects, and got
his audience into a serious, attentive state of mind.

We have said that David Bright had remained that light on deck, but he
did not on that account lose all that went on in the little cabin. He
heard indeed the light conversation and chaff of the earlier part of the
night but paid no heed to it. When, however, Evan began the foregoing
anecdote, his attention was aroused, and as the speaker sat close to the
foot of the companion every word he uttered was audible on deck.

At the time, our fallen skipper was giving way to despair. He had been
so thoroughly determined to give up drink; had been so confident of the
power of his really strong will, and had begun the struggle so well and
also continued for a time so successfully, that this fall had quite
overwhelmed him. It was such a thorough fall, too, accompanied by such
violence to his poor boy, and to one of his best men, that he had no
heart