ned by
passing his hand through the small aperture which he had made, might
only lay against the lower part of the door, and that the upper part
might be _free_. He applied his strength above, and found the door to
yield: by repeated attempts he at last succeeded in kicking the upper
panels to pieces, and having forced his body through the aperture,
Newton rushed on deck with the little strength he had remaining.

The men--the boat--were not there: he hailed, but they heard him not; he
strained his eyes--but they had disappeared in the gloom of the night;
and Newton, overcome with exhaustion and disappointment, fell down
senseless on the deck.

VOLUME ONE, CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

_Paladore_.
I have heard,
Have read bold fables of enormity,
Devised to make men wonder, and confirm
The abhorrence of our nature; but this hardness
Transcends all fiction.
LAW OF LOMBARDY.

We must now relate what had occurred on deck during the struggle of
Newton to escape from his prison. At one o'clock, Jackson had
calculated that in an hour, or less, the brig would strike on the reef.
He took the helm from the man who was steering, and told him that he
might go below. Previous to this, he had been silently occupied in
coiling the hawser before the door of Newton's cabin, it being his
intention to desert the brig, with the seamen, in the long boat, and
leave Newton to perish. When the brig dashed upon the reef, which she
did with great violence, and the crew hurried upon deck, Jackson, who
was calm, immediately proceeded to give the orders which he had already
arranged in his mind; and the coolness with which they were given
quieted the alarm of the seamen, and allowed them time to recall their
scattered senses. This, however, proved unfortunate to Jackson. Had
they all hurried in the boat at once, and shoved off; he would in all
probability have been permitted to go with them, and Newton in the hurry
of their self-preservation, would have been forgotten; but his cool
behaviour restored their confidence, and, unhappily for him, gave the
seamen time to reflect. Every one was in the boat; for Jackson had
quietly prepared and put into her what he considered requisite, when one
of the men called out for Newton.

"Damn Newton now!--save your own lives, my lads. Quick in the boat, all
of you."

"Not without Mr Newton!" cried the men, unanimously. "Jump down, Tom
Williams, and see where he is; he must sleep devili