e hard upon me," cried Adair. "I acted as well as the
circumstances would allow, and it was my duty to try and get hold of the
other dhow."

"You should have left a stronger force to keep in check a set of
ruffians, with whom only a few minutes before you had been engaged in a
struggle for life and death," said Murray; "they acted according to
their instincts, and murdered the poor boys."

"I had no time to think of that or anything else," said Adair, about to
turn away; "it was my duty to take the other dhow, and I succeeded in
doing so."

Murray, observing how much Adair was moved, felt that he was speaking
too harshly. "Well, well, I am sure you did as you considered best,"
said he. "It is a very sad affair, but I don't know that we ought to
give them up as lost. You may have misunderstood the two blacks, though
circumstances are strongly against the Arab captain. However, I will
examine him and his crew and the old black chief, with the aid of Hamed,
whom he can understand; and perhaps we may elicit something which will
give us ground for hoping that they after all escaped."

"I wish I could think so," said Adair; "I shall blame myself as long as
I live for their loss. I am certain they would not willingly have
deserted their charge."

Murray, having ordered Hamed to accompany him, pulled off in his gig
with Adair. He found the rest of the officers standing on the beach
ready to receive him, and he at once issued orders to have the slave
captain and his companions brought on shore. Two boats were on the
point of putting off to bring them, when a loud report was heard, and
thick wreaths of smoke were seen issuing from the dhow, followed almost
directly by flames bursting out from all parts. The boats dashed on to
rescue those on board; as they did so, they saw a number of men, whom
they recognised as their shipmates, swimming towards them, but not the
dark face of an Arab among them.

The boats quickly picked them up one after the other, none, happily, of
the party left on board being missing. Neither the officer nor any of
the men could account for the accident. They were all on deck, the
sentry near the hold in which the prisoners were confined; suddenly an
explosion occurred which lifted up a portion of the deck, and sent the
sentry and two other men standing near him overboard. Flames instantly
afterwards burst out both fore and aft, and the natural impulse of the
rest was to leap into the wate