served his apprenticeship to it, you
know,--an' was named Zola. The skipper, whose name was John Dewks,
couldn't abide him, an' they often used to quarrel, specially when they
was in liquor. There was nobody on deck that night except the skipper
and Zola, but my old friend--Dawson was his name--was in his bunk lyin'
wide awake. He heard that Zola an' the skipper was disputin' about
somethin', but couldn't make out what was said--only he know'd they was
both very angry. At last he heard the skipper say sharply--`Ha! would
you dare?'

"`Yes, I vill dare,' cries Zola, in his broken English, `I vill cut your
throat.' With that there seemed to be a kind of scuffle. Then there
was a loud cry, and Dawson with the other men rushed on deck.

"`Oh!' cried Zola, lookin' wild, `de skipper! him fall into de sea!
Quick, out wid de boat!'

"Some ran to the boat but the mate stopped 'em. `It's no use, boys.
She couldn't live in such a sea, an' our poor skipper is fathoms down by
this time. It would only sacrifice more lives to try.' `This was
true,' Dawson said, `for the night was as dark as pitch, an' a heavy sea
on.'

"Dawson went to the man an' whispered in his ear. `You know you are
lying, Zola; you cut the skipper's throat.'

"`No, I didn't; he felled overboard,' answered the man in such an
earnest tone that Dawson's opinion was shook. But next day when they
was at breakfast, he noticed that the point of Zola's clasp-knife was
broken off.

"`Hallo! Zola,' says he, `what's broke the point of your knife?'

"The man was much confused, but replied quickly enough that he broke it
when cleaning fish--it had dropped on the deck an' broke.

"This brought back all Dawson's suspicion, but as he could prove nothing
he thought it best to hold his tongue. That afternoon, however, it fell
calm, an' they found themselves close aboard of one of the smacks which
had sailed astern of them on the port quarter durin' the night. She
appeared to be signallin', so the mate hove-to till he came up.

"`We've got the body o' your skipper aboard,' they said, when near
enough to hail.

"Dawson looked at Zola. His lips were compressed, and he was very
stern, but said nothin'. Nobody spoke except the mate, who told them to
shove out the boat and fetch the body. This was done, and it was found
that the poor man had been wounded in the breast. `Murdered!' the men
whispered, as they looked at Zola.

"`Why you looks at me so?' he sa