s
weather in these latitudes. If it continued only for the shortest of
these periods, then, indeed, would they be in danger, and no wonder they
were freshly apprehensive.

As the sun went down, his disc appeared red and fiery. There was not a
cloud in the sky--not a curl upon the sea.

It was the last time that sun ever shone upon the _Pandora_--when
morning came, that bad, but beautiful barque, was a wreck upon the sea--
a field of floating fragments!

CHAPTER FORTY SEVEN.

You desire an explanation? You wish to know how the _Pandora_ was
destroyed?

In the closing passages of the preceding chapter, I ran ahead of my
narrative. I shall now return to it.

The night came down still, but not silent; at least not silent on board
the slave-ship. The cries of the ill-fated beings below still loaded
the air--their voices growing hoarser and hoarser. The ruffians might
cage their bodies, but they could not confine their tongues; and ever
and anon rose that awful din, pealing along the decks, and echoing far
out over the still bosom of the waters.

It seemed at length to grow unendurable, even to the men; and those, who
had before advocated throwing the slaves overboard, once more proposed
adopting this course. The unexpected obstruction from the calm now
added force to their arguments. They alleged that there was no chance
of the niggers holding out. They would all be dead in a couple of
days--by suffocation as well as thirst--and why not settle the business
at once? They had now to look out sharply for their own lives, and
better they should not be bothered any longer with these squalling
brutes. (This was literally the language of one of those who advocated
the drowning of them.) It was enough to drive a man mad to hear them,
and it would be only mercy to them (much the ruffian cared for mercy) to
make short work of it, and then the poor devils would have it over at
once. This was the compassionate speech of one.

Another followed in a like strain, and said, interrogatively, "After all
what did it amount to? The cargo was not such a great matter so long as
the ship was safe? What signified all the niggers had cost? What they
might fetch was another matter; but a man could not call that a loss
which he had never had; and, therefore, all the loss the skipper should
sustain would be the original outlay. It wasn't a million. He would
soon repair the damage. Once they got the casks filled, they co