other end of the island, I would not go back to this one.

It was some time before I could summon courage to venture back again;
and even when I had reached the door, it was not without a struggle with
myself that I dared to enter. The daylight was now streaming in, across
the long and dreary chamber, and, encouraged by this, I stepped across
the threshold. My first glance was towards the stove, where I had left
him lying asleep. The fire had burned out, and the negro was gone! With
cautious steps, and many a prying glance around, I ventured forward, my
heart thumping with a fear I cannot explain,--since his very presence
had not caused such terror; but nowhere was he to be found,--not a trace
of him remained. Indeed, were it not for the scrap of printed paper,
which I had carefully preserved, I should have believed the whole events
of the night to be the mere fancies of a dream.

Twice was I obliged to take it from my pocket and read it over, to
assure myself that I was not pursuing some hallucination of sleep;
and if I felt convinced that the events were real, and had actually
happened, I will frankly own that the reality inspired me with a sense
of fear which no memory of a mere vision could have inspired.

Daylight is a bold companion, however, and where night would make the
heart beat fast and the cheek pale, the sun will give a strong pulse and
a ruddy face. This I could not help feeling, as I acknowledged to myself
that had it been yet dark, I had rather have perished with cold than
sought for my jacket within the hut.

At last, grown bolder, I had even courage to seek for the negro on every
side. I examined the berths along the walls; I searched the recesses
beside the biscuit-casks; I removed planks and turned over sails; but
without success. The difficulty with which he moved made this seem
doubly strange, and satisfied me that his place of concealment could
not be far off,--nay, possibly, at that very moment he might be actually
watching me, and waiting for a favorable instant to pounce upon me.
This dread increased as my search continued to be fruitless; so that
I abandoned the pursuit, assured that I had done everything that could
have been asked either of my courage or humanity; nor was I sorry to
assure myself that I had done enough.

My interest in the subject was soon superseded by one nearer to my
heart; for as I left the hut I beheld, about four miles off, a large
three-masted vessel bearing up