he
sounds that sails an' spars can make; an' I don't see as how I can be
mistook. O, no; it was human voice, an' nothin' else in natur'. I
wouldn't mind it a mite if I could do anythin'. But to set here an'
jest git caught, like a rat in a trap, is what I call
too--almighty--bad!"

At this very instant, and while Zac was yet speaking, there came
through the fog the sound of a voice. Claude heard it, and Zac also.
The latter grasped the arm of his friend, and held his breath. It was
a human voice. There was not the slightest doubt now of that. Words
had been spoken, but they were unintelligible. They listened still.
There was silence for a few moments, and then the silence was broken
once more. Words were again heard. They were French, and they heard
them this time with perfect distinctness. They were these:--

"_Put her head a little over this way_."

CHAPTER II.

A MEETING IN MID OCEAN.

_Put her head a little over this way_!

They were French words. To Claude, of course, they were perfectly
intelligible, though not so to Zac, who did not understand any
language but his mother Yankee. Judging by the distinctness and the
loudness of the sound, the speaker could not be very far away. The
voice seemed to come from the water astern. No sight, however, was
visible; and the two, as they stared into the fog, saw nothing
whatever. Nor did any of the others on board seem to have heard the
voice. The priest was still intent on his Breviary. Terry was still
whistling his abominable tune. Jericho was below with his pots and
pans; and Biler, taking advantage of his absence, was seated on the
taffrail devouring a raw turnip, which he chewed with a melancholy
air. To none of these had the voice been audible, and therefore
Claude and Zac alone were confronted with this mystery of the deep.
But it was a mystery which they could not fathom; for the fog was all
around, hiding everything from view, and the more they peered into
the gloom the less were they able to understand it.

Neither of them spoke for some time. Zac had not understood the
words, but was more puzzled about the fact of a speaker being so near
on the water, behind the fog, than he was about the meaning of the
words which had been spoken. That seemed to be quite a secondary
consideration. And it was not until he had exhausted his resources in
trying to imagine what or where the one might be, that, he thought of
asking about the other.

"What did it mea