n its result, not one single murmur
escaped him on account of this delay; for delay it certainly was. No;
apart, perhaps, from the passengers, he of all on board betrayed the
most anxiety respecting the crew of the distressed vessel.

In an hour the _Flying Cloud_ was hove-to abreast and close to leeward
of the wreck, which proved to be a fine wooden barque, copper-bottomed,
on her beam-ends, as Ned had reported, with her masts lying prone in the
water. There was no sign of any one on board her; nevertheless Captain
Blyth ordered one of the gigs to be lowered, and instructed Mr Bryce to
proceed to the wreck and give her a careful overhaul. At Mr Gaunt's
own request that gentleman accompanied the mate.

The little party had some difficulty in boarding the derelict, for she
was lying broadside-on to the wind, with her masts pointing to windward;
and though there was no very great amount of sea running, there was
still sufficient to make boarding from to windward an awkward if not an
absolutely dangerous matter, in consequence of the raffle of spars and
cordage in the water. But they succeeded at last; Mr Gaunt and the
mate contriving to gain a footing in the main-rigging, whilst the boat
with her crew backed off again out of harm's way. The task of examining
the vessel, now that they were actually on board her, was even more
difficult and dangerous than that of boarding, the ship lying so far
over that her deck was perpendicular. By getting out on her weather
side, however, and by means of ropes'-ends, they eventually succeeded in
penetrating first to the cabin, and then to the forecastle (both of
which were on deck); but in neither was there any one to be found.
There were, however, in the cabin, signs--such as open and partially
empty boxes and trunks, with articles of wearing apparel scattered
about--which seemed to indicate that the vessel had been very hurriedly
abandoned; and the state of these articles was such as to lead Mr Gaunt
to the conclusion that the abandonment had taken place within the
previous twenty-four hours.

Having so far completed their examination, the boat was signalled to
again approach, and a few minutes later the party found themselves once
more on the deck of the _Flying Cloud_, the chief-mate briefly reporting
that the barque was undoubtedly abandoned.

"Then," said Captain Blyth, hesitatingly, "I suppose there is nothing
more to be done but to hoist up the boat and fill away upon o