ou tell me the compass point?"

He scratched his head, his confidence that he was not going to be hurt
returning, as I questioned him.

"Wal', sah, I ain't no sailor man myself--no, sah; but de second mate
he done point it out dis mohnin' when Ah was on deck, an' he say it lay
nor'east by east, sah. Ah members dat distinctly."

"That will be all, Louis. Now listen to me. I am going to shut this
door, and lock you in. I 'll be on board here for an hour yet, and if
you utter so much as a whimper I 'll come down here, and fill you full
of lead. Are you going to keep still?"

"Ah--Ah sure am, sah; my Lordy! Ah don't want fer to be no dead
niggah."

"Well, you will be if I hear a peep out of you."

I closed the door, testing it before turning away, smiling grimly to
myself at recollection of those white eyeballs glaring at me through
the gloom. Louis was evidently not the stuff of which martyrs are made.

There was a small tell-tale compass fastened to a beam over the table.
I unscrewed this without difficulty, and dropped it into my pocket. It
would be a dark night with that cloud shutting out the sky, with
probably not a shore light visible. Then I climbed the companion
stairs to take a survey of the deck. As the cabin lights had none of
them been lit, I could stand in the shadow of the hood without fear of
being seen, and my eyes, accustomed to the slow approach of darkness,
could see fairly well. No attempt had been made to spread sail,
although doubtless a closely reefed jib helped to steady the vessel,
which was advancing steadily under medium engine power. Quietness, and
secrecy was clearly the aim sought, for the stacks discharged only a
faint haze of smoke, instantly disappearing into the cloud mass above,
while the sound of the revolving screws was scarcely discernible.
Nevertheless we were slipping through the water at fair rate of speed,
leaving a very perceptible wake astern. Judging from our present
progress the _Sea Gull_ would prove herself a clipper once under full
steam. The open decks glistened with water, although the rainfall was
light and intermittent; thunder rumbled to the northward, with
occasional flashes of lightning. Even as I stood there, staring
forward, endeavoring to make out certain objects in the gloom, the
overhanging cloud seemed to close in across the western sky, instantly
plunging us into night. Like a spectral ship we swept through the
slight smother, gently lif