k, and some loud whispering. His being near the hatchway
enabled him thus to distinguish sounds in the open air. Several sailors
hurriedly ran to and fro on the deck, and Hans could hear that nearly if
not quite all the crew were on deck.

Suddenly the captain of the slaver called out in a loud voice, as though
he were hailing some one at a distance, and Hans distinctly heard from
the sea a voice in English call out, "What ship is that?"

There was some hesitation on the part of the captain of the slaver, for
no answer was at first returned; but when a second demand, "What ship is
that?" was uttered, one of the crew, who had before spoken to Hans in
English, answered, "Portugee ship, Pedro: what you want?"

"I must come on board," was the reply from the sea; for Hans could not
tell in what sort of vessel the inquirer was, though he hoped a rescue
was at hand. He strained every muscle to try and free his arms from the
irons that held him, but without effect; for he feared that perhaps the
inquirer, whoever it might be, might not venture beyond inquiries, and
thus would avoid seeing all that he must see should he come on board.
The inquirer, however, was not satisfied, as his remark indicated, and
the sound of oars was audible amidst the stillness which followed.
Presently the grating of a boat on the vessel's side was heard; then the
fall of a heavy substance, the crashing of planks, and a heavy splash in
the water, followed by the shouts of men, who, some crushed, others
struggling in the sea, were able to call for aid, and thus announced
their distress. A loud cheer given by English lungs responded to their
calls, and three other boats, which had before kept back in the
darkness, now dashed at the slaver.

The captain of the slaver was a desperate man, and his all was risked in
the vessel he now commanded. Having either suspected that the ship
which had chased him would send her boats to capture him, or having
heard an incautious speaker or the imperfectly muffled oars, he had made
his arrangements for defence. Supported from the mainyard arm, he had
suspended three or four solid iron bars, each of which exceeded a
hundred pounds in weight. A man with a sharp knife was placed close to
this, with orders to cut the rope by which the iron was held immediately
a boat came beneath him. The man obeyed his orders well, and the mass
of iron, having gained great velocity by the distance it had fallen,
stove in the bo