aight up and
down.

"Let them drown!" roared Atkins to some native seamen who sprang to his
assistance, "overboard two or three of you, and save the boat. She'll
be smashed to matchwood in a minute, the after-fall has unshipped;" then
whipping a knife from the belt of one of them he severed the remaining
fall, and saw the boat plunge down sternwards and outwards from the side
just in time; another half-minute and she would have disappeared under
the steamer's bottom to be hopelessly stove in. And with cries of
encouragement to each other, four natives leapt over the side, swam
after her, clambered in and then shouted that they were all right,
and would come alongside and stand by, for although the oars and other
fittings had been lost, there were half a dozen canoe paddles lashed
under the thwarts, and these were quickly brought into use.

All this happened in a few minutes, and as Atkins ran to assist Harvey
with the two quarter boats which had been lowered, and were now standing
by alongside, there came a sudden crashing of glass, as the flames in
the saloon burst through the sides of the skylight, and drove every one
to the main deck.

"That settles the matter," said Oliver quietly to Harvey, as a sudden
gust of flame leapt from the lee side of the skylight, and caught the
fore and aft mainsail, which was quickly destroyed; then the steamer at
once fell off, and the flames began to travel for'ard.

With all possible speed, but without excitement, Tessa and Maoni, who
were still under the influence of the drugged coffee, and unable to
stand, or even utter a word, were placed in the first boat, of which
Atkins took charge for the time, with four natives as a crew. The second
quarter boat, in which Hendry and Chard had been placed, then came
alongside, and the two surviving firemen, now thoroughly cowed and
trembling, and terrified into a mechanical sobriety, were brought to the
gangway and told to jump.

"Jump, you rotten beggars, jump," said Morrison; "over you go into the
water if you want to save your useless lives. The men in the boat will
pick you up. We are not going to risk bringing her alongside for the
sake of swine like you. Over you go," and then seizing one of them by
the collar of his shirt and the belt, he sent him flying over the side,
the other man jumping over to avoid rougher treatment from the native
seamen, who were disgusted at their cowardice. Then Morrison, Studdert,
and three natives follo