they do not one of
them change their positions: the galley must have been abandoned by the
officers and seamen, and the slaves left to perish."

"That's very hard," observed Jack to Gascoigne; "they were condemned to
the galleys, but not to death."

"They will not have much mercy from the waves," replied Gascoigne; "they
will all be in kingdom come to-morrow morning, if the breeze comes more
on the land. We have already come up two points this forenoon."

Although Captain Wilson did not join in this conversation, which he
overheard as he stood on the forecastle gun, with his glass over the
hammocks, it appears he was of the same opinion; but he demurred: he had
to choose between allowing so many of his fellow-creatures to perish
miserably, or to let loose upon society a set of miscreants, who would
again enter a course of crime until they were recaptured, and by so
doing probably displease the Sicilian authorities. After some little
reflection he resolved that he would take his chance of the latter. The
_Aurora_ was hove-to in stays, and the two cutters ordered to be lowered
down, and the boat's crew to be armed.

"Mr Easy, do you take one cutter and the armourers; pull on board of
the galley, release those people, and land them in small divisions. Mr
Gascoigne, you will take the other to assist Mr Easy, and when he lands
them in his boat, you will pull by his side ready to act, in case of any
hostile attempt on the part of the scoundrels; for we must not expect
gratitude: of course, land them at the nearest safe spot for
debarkation."

In pursuance of these orders, our two midshipmen pulled away to the
vessel. They found her fixed hard upon the rocks, which had pierced her
slight timbers, and, as they had supposed, the respectable part of her
crew, with the commander, had taken to the boats, leaving the
galley-slaves to their fate. She pulled fifty oars, but had only
thirty-six manned. These oars were forty feet long, and ran in from the
thole-pin with a loom six feet long, each manned by four slaves, who
were chained to their seat before it, by a running chain made fast by a
padlock in amidships. A plank, of two feet wide, ran fore and aft the
vessel between the two banks of oars, for the boatswain to apply the
lash to those who did not sufficiently exert themselves.

"Viva los Inglesos," cried the galley-slaves, as Easy climbed up over
the quarter of the vessel.

"I say, Ned, did you ever see such a