perfect hell afloat, and to my mind
the captain's the--"

"Silence there, forward!" shouted the officer in command of the boat.
"Back in again."

One by one the people were taken off the raft. Devereux insisted on
remaining to the last, and he was taken off in the second boat. No
sooner had he been placed in her than several of her crew leaped on to
the raft.

"Better run the chance of a watery grave than live aboard there,"
shouted one of the men, attempting to hoist the sail which had been
lowered. "Hurrah, lads! for the coast of America and freedom!"

"Back into the boat: back, you mutinous scoundrels!" shouted the officer
in command. "What foolery are you about? If you were to go, and small
loss you would be, you would all of you be dead before a week was over.
Back, I say."

In vain the men tried to hoist the sail. The mast gave way, throwing
one of them into the sea. He made an attempt to save himself, but sank
in sight of his shipmates. The boat was soon again dropped alongside
the raft, and the men with sulky indifference returned on board. Very
little was said by anybody as the boats pulled back to the frigate. The
officers, indeed, saw that those they had taken off the raft were in no
condition to answer questions. Devereux and his companions were lifted
up on deck, and from thence at once transferred to the sick bay below
under the doctor's care. Paul, after a sound sleep, recovered his
senses, and very soon perceived, that although there was strict
discipline maintained on board, each person went about his duty in a
dull, mechanical way. Reuben was, however, on foot before Paul. He
came to the side of the hammock in which the latter still lay unable to
move.

"I am thankful, Reuben, that we are safe off that dreadful raft," said
Paul.

"No reason to call it dreadful, boy. It was our ark of safety, as Jim
Croxton says, rightly, and we should be grateful that we were allowed to
be saved by it. There's many here, as you saw, would rather be on that
raft than aboard this fine frigate," answered Reuben.

"Why? what is the matter with the ship?" asked Paul.

"Why, just this," answered his friend; "the captain is a tyrant; many of
the officers imitate him, and altogether the men's lives are miserable.
The ship is a complete hell afloat."

Several days passed by; the frigate was steering for the West Indies,
which were sighted soon after Paul had managed to creep on deck. He saw
the me