; and, after
inquiring what uses certain of the articles were expected to be put to,
ordered the boat to be lowered and manned, and everything to be passed
down into her. When this came to be done, however, there proved to be,
with the luggage, too much for one boat; so, rather than incur the delay
which would be entailed by the making of a second trip, Williams, with
many expressions of dissatisfaction and impatience, ordered the second
quarter-boat to be lowered.

At length everything was pronounced to be in the boats; and nothing
remained but for the passengers themselves to pass down over the side.
They had, previously to this, asked and been refused permission to say
farewell to Captain Blyth, there was therefore nothing further to detain
them, and Mr Gaunt now advanced to the gangway, where he paused for a
moment in order to protest formally against being thus landed in a part
of the world from which there seemed little or no hope of their being
able to effect their escape. The protest was, of course, utterly
ineffectual, as they quite expected it would be--indeed it was only made
because they wished it to be clearly understood by all hands that they
were not leaving the ship of their own free-will--and when the engineer
had finished speaking, all that Williams said in reply was:

"That is all right. And now, as there is a fairish amount of swell
running, I would recommend you two gentlemen to go down into the boat
first, so as to help the ladies and children down, and to see that none
of them fall overboard."

This was such sound advice that the engineer at once followed it, Ned at
the same time pressing forward, and, under cover of a pretence of
wishing to shake hands with him for the last time, slipped into his hand
the pencil note he had prepared. The transfer was effected unobserved;
and the doctor next stepping forward, soon found himself safely in the
boat beside his friend. The children were next carefully handed down by
Ned; after which, at a sign from Williams, first Mrs Gaunt and then
Mrs Henderson followed. There now remained only Sibylla to complete
the party; and she was in the act of advancing to the gangway, when--to
the unspeakable dismay of those most concerned--Williams, who was
standing on the rail, gave the order for both boats to shove off, at the
same moment leaping down off the rail on deck. His extraordinary order
must have been anticipated, so promptly was it obeyed; and before e