ely between its horrid
jaws, and I could still hear the scream of agony echoing far off in the
woods.

Of course it was but fancy. There was no sound stirring even of wind or
water. Above and around reigned an impressive stillness, as if Nature
herself, by that dread event, had been awed into silence!

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

I was glad when morning dawned, for I slept but little that night. The
sad fate of the poor sailor lay heavily upon my spirits during the whole
of the next day, and I could not help thinking that some such ending
might happen to myself. It was the constant dread I was in of the
brutal violence of mate and captain that produced these unpleasant
forebodings; for I regarded these men as the real murderers of the
unfortunate man. The crocodile only came in as an accessory, and had no
such creature appeared upon the scene the Dutchman would, no doubt, have
perished all the same by the bullets of their muskets. The monster had
only forestalled them, and hastened the event by a few seconds of time;
and it was evident that had they shot the man instead--these reckless
ruffians--they would have been equally disregardful of consequences--
equally without remorse or regret. No wonder I felt that my life was
insecure--no wonder my mind was filled with forebodings.

During the whole of that day the death-scream of the poor sailor seemed
to echo in my ears, in sad contrast with the coarse mirth and loud rude
laughter that rang over the decks of the _Pandora_. On board it was a
day of jubilee. King Dingo Bingo was entertained by the captain, and
brought not only some of his chief men with him, but also his harem of
black-skinned beauties, between whom and the rough men of the crew,
love-making, dancing, and carousing was kept up to a late hour in the
night.

The paltry cargo of goods which the barque had carried was by this time
taken on shore and delivered to his commercial majesty; who, in return,
had counted out his captives and made them over as slaves to the
skipper. Before they could be taken aboard, however, the vessel
required some alterations. New gratings were to be made--instead of
those destroyed during the chase--and bulkheads were to be strengthened
and repaired, for it was intended to partition off the males from the
females. It was not any idea of decency that prompted this arrangement,
but simply convenience. Moreover, the water-butts had to be emptied of
the salt-water which the