rred, ill-fated vessel!

CHAPTER NINETY.

A MADMAN IN MID-OCEAN.

In the minds of the _Catamaran's_ crew there was no longer any cause for
conjecture. The boat-shaped object on the water, and the human form
standing up within it, were mysteries no more; nor was there any when
that boat and that human being were identified.

If in the spectacle there was aught still to puzzle them, it was the
seeing only one man in the boat instead of six.

There should have been six; since that was the number that the gig had
originally carried away from the burning bark,--five others besides the
one now seen,--and who, notwithstanding a great change in his
appearance, was still recognisable as the slaver's captain.

Where were the missing men,--the mates, the carpenter and two common
sailors, who had escaped along with him? Were they in the boat, lying
down, and so concealed from the view of those upon the _Catamaran_? Or
had they succumbed to some fearful fate, leaving only that solitary
survivor?

The gig sat high in the water. Those upon the _Catamaran_ could not see
over its gunwale unless by approaching nearer, and this they hesitated
to do.

Indeed, on identifying the boat and the individual standing in it, they
had suddenly hauled down the sail and were lying to, using their oar to
keep them from drifting any nearer.

They had done so from an instinctive apprehension. They knew that the
men who had gone off in the gig were not a whit better than those upon
the big raft; for the officers of the slaver, in point of ruffianism,
were upon a par with their crew. With this knowledge, it was a question
for consideration whether the Catamarans would be safe in approaching
the boat. If the six were still in it, and out of food and water, like
those on the large raft, they would undoubtedly despoil the _Catamaran_,
just as the others had designed doing. From such as they no mercy need
be expected; and as it was not likely any succour could be obtained from
them, it would, perhaps, be better, in every way, to "give them a wide
berth."

Such were the thoughts that passed hastily through the mind of Ben
Brace, and were communicated to his companions.

Were the five missing men still aboard the boat?

They might be lying down along the bottom,--though it was not likely
they could be asleep? That appeared almost impossible, considering the
shouts and screams which the captain at intervals still continued to
send fo