an the rest of us?"

"You forget, mate, that the fight was not finished between him and
Monsieur Le Gros?"

"No, I don't forget it. Well?"

"Well, yourself!"

"It don't follow he was to be the next to die,--not as I can see. Look
at this, comrades! There's been foul play here! The Irishman's been
stabbed with his own knife. That's plain enough; but it is not so sure
he did it himself, Why should he? I say again, there's been foul play?"

"And who do you accuse of foul play?"

"I don't accuse anyone. Let them bring the charge, as have seen
something. Somebody must know how this came about. There's been a
murder. Can anyone tell who did it?"

There was a pause of silence of more than a minute in duration. No one
made answer. If anyone knew who was the murderer, they failed to
proclaim it.

"Look here, mates!" put in one, whose sharp voice sounded like the cry
of a hyena, "I'm hungry as a starved shark. Suppose we suspend this
inquest, till we've had breakfast. After that we can settle who's done
the deed,--if there's been anyone, except the man himself. What say ye
all?"

The horrid proposal was not replied to by anyone. The loud shout that
succeeded it sprang from a different cause; and the words that were
afterwards uttered had no reference to the topic under consideration.

"A light! a light!" came the cry, vociferated by several voices.

"It's the light we saw last night. It's the galley-fire! There's a
ship within a hundred yards of us!"

"Ship ahoy! ship ahoy!"

"Ship ahoy! what ship's that?"

"Why the devil don't you answer our hail?"

"To the oars, men! to the oars. _Sacre-dieu_! The lubbers must be
asleep. Ship ahoy! ship ahoy!"

There was no mistaking the signification of these speeches. The sailor
and Snowball exchanged glances of despair. Both had already looked
behind them. There, blazing fiercely up, was the fire of spermaceti,
with the shark-steaks browning in its flame. In the excitement of the
moment they had forgotten all about it. Its light, gleaming through the
fog, had betrayed their presence to those upon the raft; and the order
issued to take to the oars, with the confused plashing that quickly
followed, told the Catamarans that the big raft was about to bear down
upon them!

CHAPTER EIGHTY THREE.

SLIPPING THE CABLE.

"Dar coming on!" muttered Snowball. "Wha' we better do, Massa Brace?
Ef we stay hya dey detroy us fo' sartin."

"Stay here!"