o die soon."

"Good master?"

"Yes, sah! Good massa, sick bad, sah. Die, sah."

"Well, where is he--Massa Allen?"

"House, sah. Go sleep, sah," said the man, growing eager and excited,
and making an effort to replace Murray's foot upon his head.

"No, no; don't do that," cried the lad impatiently. "Now tell me, where
is your master?"

"Massa Allen, sah. House, sah. Go sleep, sah."

"It's very evident he does not know, Tom," said Murray. "What's to be
done? Do you think we could get anything out of the others?"

"No, sir. If he don't know they don't."

"Well, what is best to be done?"

"Try t'others, sir. I don't think it's any good, but we might try."

"But we must catch them first."

"Oh, that's soon done, sir."

"But how?"

The big sailor laughed.

"When I was a youngster, sir, we boys used to get out in one of the
Newlyn boats, sir--in Mount's Bay, sir, and trail a line behind to get a
few mack'rel, sir, for our mothers. Well, sir, it was easy enough to
trail the line and hook, but it warn't so easy always to get the bait;
for we used to think the best bait was a lask."

"A what, Tom?"

"Lask, sir, and that's a strip out of the narrowest part of a mackerel,
cut with a sharp knife down to the bone, so that when the hook was put
through one end one side was raw fish and the other was bright and
silvery."

"I see, Tom," said Murray.

"Nay, sir, you only fancy you can see it. If you could see it twirling
and wiggling in the water when it was dragged after the boat and we
pulled fast, you'd see it looked _just_ like a little live fish, and the
mack'rel shoot theirselves after it through the water and hook
theirselves. That's the best bait for a mack'rel, and after the same
fashion one nigger's the best bait to catch more niggers."

"Then you think we can get hold of more of the boat's crew by--"

"Yes, sir," said Tom, interrupting and grinning the while, "but without
cutting a piece out of him with either a knife or a whip. Poor chaps,
they get that often enough, I'll be bound. You only want to let this
one see that he won't be hurt, and he'll soon bring the others up."

"But we've been so rough with him already. I'm afraid it will be a hard
task."

"Not it, sir. They get so knocked about that a good word or two soon
puts matters right again. You try, sir."

"Why not you, Tom? You seem to know their ways better than I do."

"Nay, sir, you try. See how he's watching of u