and made themselves
fast to a dinghy which she had in tow. A few minutes of apprehensive
waiting followed, and as nothing happened, one of the boldest swung
himself up over the tow-rope on to the deck. He was followed by the
others, and they advanced cautiously with drawn knives and pistols.

Not a soul was to be seen, and the men, who were brave enough before a
charging whale, trembled with fear. The wheel and the lookout were alike
deserted, and no sign of life could be discovered anywhere below. In the
galley were the embers of a dead fire, and the table in the captain's
cabin was spread out ready for a meal which had never been eaten. On
deck everything was spick and span, and not the slightest evidence of a
storm or any other disturbance could be found. The theory of a derelict
was impossible. Apparently all had been well on board, and they had been
sailing with good weather, when, without any warning, her crew had been
suddenly snatched away by some dread power.

The sailors with one accord agreed that it was the work of a
sea-serpent. But the mate had no place for the ordinary superstitions of
the sea, and he still scoured the hold, expecting at any minute to
encounter a dead body or some other evil evidence of foul play. Nothing
more, however, was found, and the mate at length had to end his search
with the unsatisfactory conclusion that the _St. Clare_, a brigantine
registered from Hartpool, with cargo of lime, had been abandoned on the
high seas for no apparent reason. Her skipper had taken with him the
ship's papers, and had not left a single clue behind.

A crew was told off to stand by the _St. Clare_ to bring her into port,
and the others climbed into the long-boat to row back to the whaler.

"Just see if there is a name on that there dinghy, before we go," said
the mate.

An exclamation of horror broke from one of the men as he read on the bow
of the dinghy the name, _Kanawha_.

The faces of all went white with a dire alarm as the facts of the
mystery suddenly flashed before them. The _Kanawha_ was the ship in
which Captain Mogul Mackenzie had made himself notorious as a
privateersman. Every one had heard her awe-inspiring name, and every
Yankee seafaring man prayed that he might never meet her on the seas.
After the _Alabama_ was sunk, and the _Talahassee_ was withdrawn, the
_Kanawha_ still remained to threaten the shipping of the North. For a
long time her whereabouts had been unknown, and then sh