down on us a cold, damp fog out of the
north, which already had shut out the moon and rendered indistinct the
forms of the men at work on the boats. I could see, however, that the
bow had settled nearly under, and knew that it was only a question of
moments when the ship would slide, head first, down the declivity. I
ran forward, and just as I started a report rang out from the after
companion and a bullet furrowed my hair. I had forgotten Macklin, but
had moved just in time.

"Furious with anger and hatred, I halted in the alley and reached for
my revolver; but it was gone from my pocket--jolted out, perhaps, as we
jumped off the poop. So, I left Macklin to his own problem, and joined
the men.

"There were two whaleboats, which we had carried upside down on the
forward house, and when I got there I found that the men, sailors all
from head to foot, had turned them over, fitted in the bottom plugs,
and bent long painters that led forward outside the rigging. There was
no time to rig hoisting tackles aloft, nor was there need, as a gang to
each could launch them bodily over, one on either side.

"Sailors all, from head to feet, but wild 'packet rats' whose necks
were already in their halters! I considered my chance in an open boat
with that crowd, and thought of my gun, lying somewhere aft on the main
deck. Resolved to risk another shot from Macklin rather than my chance
unarmed among the men, I turned back, watching the cabin windows with
one eye and searching the deck with the other; but I saw no gun, and
perhaps Macklin did not see me, for there was no more shooting.

"Giving it up at last, I ran forward as both boats went over the side
and the men were tumbling into them. As I ran I noticed the steeper
incline to the deck, and that the forecastle was submerged; but I was
not prepared for the sudden launch of the ship into the sea, nor the
sickening crash of riven timbers as her after body was torn away, and
which drowned my shouts to the men.

"In a roaring, yeasty froth of tumultuous water, I went under, and when
I at last came to the surface, half drowned, I was alone on the sea,
hidden from the boats by the thick envelope of fog. I shouted, and was
answered faintly; but not able to determine the direction the sound
came from, I could only shout again and tread water, hoping to make
sure.

"But I could not make sure; sound is twisted around amazingly in fog,
and little by little the calls grew fainter. I was