he, and dared to look behind them.

The great plunge had been made in water so shoal, that the boat had
barely escaped being dashed to pieces on the coral. Had it not been so
suddenly relieved from the pressure of near a thousand pounds in
weight, it is probable that this calamity would have befallen it, the
water received on board contributing so much to weigh it down. The
struggle between these victims ceased, however, the moment they went
over. Finding bottom for their feet, they released each other, in a
desperate hope of prolonging life by wading. Two or three held out
their arms, and shouted to Spike to return and pick them up. This
dreadful scene lasted but a single instant, for the waves dashed one
after another from his feet, continually forcing them all, as they
occasionally regained their footing, toward the margin of the reef,
and finally washing them off it into deep water. No human power could
enable a man to swim back to the rocks, once to leeward of them, in
the face of such seas, and so heavy a blow; and the miserable wretches
disappeared in succession, as their strength became exhausted, in the
depths of the gulf.

Not a word had been uttered while this terrific scene was in the
course of occurrence; not a word was uttered for some time afterward.
Gleams of grim satisfaction had been seen on the countenances of the
boatswain, and his associates, when the success of their nefarious
project was first assured; but they soon disappeared in looks of
horror, as they witnessed the struggles of the drowning men.
Nevertheless, human selfishness was strong within them all, and none
there was so ignorant as not to perceive how much better were the
chances of the yawl now than it had been on quitting the wreck. The
weight of a large ox had been taken from it, counting that of all the
eight men drowned; and as for the water shipped, it was soon bailed
back again into the sea. Not only, therefore, was the yawl in a better
condition to resist the waves, but it sailed materially faster than it
had done before. Ten persons still remained in it, however, which
brought it down in the water below its proper load-line; and the speed
of a craft so small was necessarily a good deal lessened by the least
deviation from its best sailing, or rowing trim. But Spike's projects
were not yet completed.

All this time the man-of-war's cutter had been rushing as madly
through the breakers, in chase, as the yawl had done in the att