n' them. The rest is mostly in hell, I reckon, but as I says afore,
that is a matter o' mostly guesswork."

A dim idea of the horror he had gone through came upon me.

"Good God, Trunnell," I said, "did you do it alone?"

"Well, there ware only one strong one in the lot--but look here, young
man, if ye don't turn in pretty soon, ye'll be in trouble agin."

He poured himself out another drink, and put the bottle in the pantry.
Then he went on deck, and I turned in to think over the spectacle that
must have occurred aboard the blackened derelict. I could see Andrews's
hope and the third mate's joy at being rescued. I could even picture
them undergoing the wild joy I had just felt myself, when we had sighted
the _Pirate_. Then came that nameless something. Had the men seen it? A
rescuer coming aboard with a bloody knife in his belt, and the ship
standing away again on her course for the States on the other side of
the world!

There would be no explanations, and the blackened wreck, half sunken in
the swell, would tell no tales. Trunnell was really a strange character.

"Discipline is discipline," I seemed to hear him saying all my watch
below. His step sounded above my head as he walked fore and aft, during
his watch; and during the periods of fitful slumber I enjoyed before
eight bells struck, I fancied him a great giant whose feet struck with
a thunderous sound at every stride. I was almost startled when his
great bushy head was thrust into my room door, and he announced loudly
that it was the mid-watch, and that I would need a stout jacket to ward
off the cold.

XX

For the next three days we went along merrily to the northward, the
beginning of the southeast trade behind us, and our skysails drawing full
overhead. On the third day Cape Agullas was sighted on our beam. Then,
away we went scudding across the South Atlantic Ocean for the equator.

Miss Sackett and her mother came on deck now and enjoyed the beautiful
weather. The sufferings they had both gone through had made a deep
impression upon them, and they were very quiet. The older woman would sit
for hours in a faded dress saved from the wreck of the _Sovereign_,
gazing sadly at the wake sparkling away in the sunshine astern. The
bright gleams seemed to light up the memories of her past, and sometimes
when I saw her she would have a tear trickling slowly down each cheek.
Men as good as Sackett were scarce on deep water.

But the daughter was di