d watched the Gulf from sunrise to sunset, and without seeing one sail
upon its surface. A light breeze was blowing from the northward, and on
this I supposed many of the outward vessels would be borne along; but
not one appeared. From time to time a fleeting cloud, resting for a
moment on the horizon, would assume the semblance of a ship; but at
length I grew accustomed to these deceptions, and suffered little or no
disappointment when a second glance at the spot failed to detect them.

Once or twice the thought crossed my mind that I might never leave the
island, that winter might close in, and the Gulf be frozen before I
could make my escape; and I actually shuddered at the very notion of a
fate so terrible. I cowered nearer to the fire as the flame subsided,
and was sitting with my hands outstretched over the blaze, when the
sudden crash of one of the bottles behind startled me. Were the rats
already regaining courage in anticipation of the time when I could no
longer resist them? With this idea, I turned my head round. The flame
threw a long ray of light upon the floor as I moved, and in the midst
of this I beheld, at a distance of about three yards off, a large black
head, with two immense and bloodshot eyes glaring fixedly at me. It
seemed to rise out of the earth, above which it rose scarcely more than
a foot in height.

Paralyzed by terror, I could not stir, I could scarcely breathe, as with
a slow and nodding motion the large black face came nearer; and now I
could see that it was a man--a negro,--who on hands and knees was slowly
creeping towards me. Overwhelmed by fear as I was, I noted the features
as marked by age and worn by want; they resembled those of a wild
beast rather than of a human creature. More from the force of a mere
mechanical impulse than with any notion of defence, for which my terror
totally incapacitated me, I had drawn my pistol from my bosom, and held
it pointed towards him. "No fire!--no fire!" cried the creature, in a
low, faint voice; and at the same time, while resting on one hand, he
held up with the other a long bright knife in an attitude of menace.

"No nearer, then!" screamed I, as I fell back beside the stove, and
still kept my eyes fixed upon him whom now I knew to be the Black
Boatswain; and thus we remained, each watching the other, while the fire
flickered and threw its fitful glare over the gloomy space around us. As
we were thus, I saw, or I thought I saw, the negro ste