ely established the finding
of the bodies. I was now to have a bad two hours. I was an important
witness, probably the most important. I had heard the scream that had
revealed the tragedy, and had been in the main cabin of the after house
only a moment or so after the murderer. I had found the bodies, Vail
still living, and had been with the accused mate when he saw the
captain prostrate at the foot of the forward companion.

All of this, aided by skillful questions, I told as exactly as
possible. I told of the mate's strange manner on finding the bodies; I
related, to a breathless quiet, the placing of the bodies in the
jolly-boat; and the reading of the burial service over them; I told of
the little boat that followed us, like some avenging spirit, carrying
by day a small American flag, union down, and at night a white light.
I told of having to increase the length of the towing-line as the heat
grew greater, and of a fear I had that the rope would separate, or that
the mysterious hand that was the author of the misfortunes would cut
the line.

I told of the long nights without sleep, while, with our few available
men, we tried to work the Ella back to land; of guarding the after
house; of a hundred false alarms that set our nerves quivering and our
hearts leaping. And I made them feel, I think, the horror of a
situation where each man suspected his neighbor, feared and loathed
him, and yet stayed close by him because a known danger is better than
an unknown horror.

The record of my examination is particularly faulty, McWhirter having
allowed personal feeling to interfere with accuracy. Here and there in
the margins of his notebook I find unflattering allusions to the
prosecuting attorney; and after one question, an impeachment of my
motives, to which Mac took violent exception, no answer at all is
recorded, and in a furious scrawl is written: "The little
whippersnapper! Leslie could smash him between his thumb and finger!"

I found another curious record--a leaf, torn out of the book, and
evidently designed to be sent to me, but failing its destination, was
as follows: "For Heaven's sake, don't look at the girl so much! The
newspaper men are on."

But, to resume my examination. The first questions were not of
particular interest. Then:

"Did the prisoner know you had moved to the after house?"

"I do not know. The forecastle hands knew."

"Tell what you know of the quarrel on July 31 between Cap