e at hand being coupled with a deadly anxiety lest she should
suddenly make sail and get away from me. But to all my hailing there
came no reply, nor was a light shown, or any other indication vouchsafed
that my cries had been heard, even though I continued them until the
boat was actually crossing the stern of the stranger at a distance of
barely fifty fathoms. There was only one inference to be drawn from
this strange silence, namely, that the brig was derelict, a surmise that
was borne out by the fact that her boats appeared to be gone. Yet I
could not detect any sign that anything was wrong with her; she was not
sitting particularly deep in the water--so far as I could judge in the
darkness--nor did her spars appear to be damaged, except that, as I have
already mentioned, her topgallant-masts seemed to have been carried
away; there appeared, therefore, to be no reason why we should not
venture alongside; and accordingly, as soon as we had stood on far
enough to fetch her on the next tack, I hove the boat round and--the
brig happening to lie broadside-on to the sea--ran her alongside to
leeward, dousing my sails as we came up abreast the stranger's lee
quarter. As we shot up alongside I found that the vessel was certainly
deeper in the water than I had at first imagined her to be, yet not
deeper than might be accounted for by her carrying a heavy cargo; her
covering-board seemed to be about eighteen inches above the water, and I
therefore had no difficulty in clambering in over her bulwarks from the
gunwale of the boat, of course taking care to carry the end of the
boat's painter on board with me. Making this securely fast to a cleat
in the bulwarks, I glanced fore and aft to see whether I could discover
any indication of the presence of human beings on board; but the deck
appeared to be deserted; no gleam of light showed either forward or aft;
and no sound broke the silence save the wash of the water along the
bends, the choking gurgle of the scuppers, and the monotonous jerk-jerk
of the spanker-boom at its sheet with the roll of the ship. Under these
circumstances I considered that my companion might safely venture
aboard, and I accordingly assisted her up the side and in on deck,
afterwards dropping the boat astern and carefully securing her by her
painter. This done, I conducted Miss Onslow aft to the cabin
companion--which was fitted with seat-lockers on each side--begged her
to be seated for a short time w