ern in half an hour."

The sailor's remark seemed very likely to be verified, for the ship
being, as he said, built of pine-wood, and having been long exposed to
the heat of an almost tropical sun, was so dry and inflammable that the
fire caught the timbers, and burnt as though it were fed with shavings.
In order to get at the situation of the fire, it would be necessary to
go into the hold where the slaves were, and thus it would be necessary
to raise the hatch. With above two hundred furious savages, who had
just murdered two white men, in the hold, the lieutenant knew no chance
existed of putting out a fire, which, whenever it occurs in a ship,
requires a thoroughly well-disciplined body of men to be called together
in order to put it out. "Take three hands with you, and lower the
quarter boats," said the lieutenant to one of the men. "Sterk, will you
stay here, and help to guard the hatch? I will put a few things into
the boat. We must lose no time, I see; the ship is like tinder."

During the few minutes that the officer was absent, the fire had made
great progress, and the yells and shouts from the slaves were almost
deafening.

"We must free the slavers from their irons," said the lieutenant. "We
must give them a chance. Come along and help me, you two." And with
the aid of Hans and a sailor the lieutenant freed the crew of the
slaver, and signed to them to follow on deck.

"Now into the two boats, men!" said the officer. "If we have any room,
we'll save whoever we can. Stand by to let me in, for I'm going to free
the hatch, and let the slaves up. They must have a chance for life, and
God help them! for I see no possibility of human aid being of benefit."
The sailors having hurried into the boats, the lieutenant seized a
handspike, and knocking off the fastening of the hatchway, left it so
that a very moderate amount of strength would force it up. He then
lowered himself into the boat, and ordered the men to pull away a short
distance from the slaver, where he purposed watching the struggle that
he hoped might take place between the crew and the fire.

"I could do nothing else, I think," said the officer to Hans. "I have
the lives of my men under my charge, and if I had waited on board, these
slaves would have tried to murder us. Now they have a chance for their
lives, but I run a risk now. If the slaver is burnt, and her crew and
slaves go down with her, I may be called cruel for having left t