anded up on board. One proved to
be an old woman, who could scarcely open her eyes; the other two were
lads, who had been found almost buried in the sand which served as
ballast for the vessel. They were placed among the other worst cases,
of whom the doctor expressed his belief that several were past recovery.
The younger and best-looking young women, as being the most profitable
part of the cargo, had been better cared for than any of the rest, while
the men and boys had been almost starved, the object of the Arabs being
to expend as little on food for them as possible.

"The dhow is clear, sir," reported the carpenter.

"Scuttle her," said Jack, "and set her on fire. The Arabs shall see
that we don't take them for the sake of their craft; it may serve as a
slight punishment for them to see her burning."

With infinite satisfaction the carpenter and his crew distributed some
bundles of oakum and shavings in different parts of the vessel, and,
setting them on fire, quickly climbed out of her, when Jack shouted,
"Turn ahead!" and the _Gauntlet_ steamed on, leaving the dhow enveloped
in flames. The whole operation was so speedily performed that the Arabs
opened their eyes with astonishment. Most of them took it, however,
quietly enough; but the negoda, to whom the vessel belonged, plucked his
beard with rage as he saw his property destroyed.

"Serve him right," was the remark made by not a few of those on board,
though the greater number were too actively employed to notice what had
occurred. Their first business was to clear the unfortunate creatures
from the filth with which they were literally covered from head to foot.
Warm water and sponges and towels were brought from below to perform
the operation on those who were too weak to bear any more severe
process; while the larger number were placed under the steam hose, which
was set to work pumping water over them, the seamen turning them round,
and exposing those parts of their bodies to which the dirt clung the
thickest.

"Well, if we can't make a blackamoor white, we can wash him clean, at
all events," remarked Nat Bolus, the wag of the crew; "though I don't
think as how we could have done it without the help of this here steam."

Even the stronger ones were handled kindly, but the poor weak creatures,
who could scarcely lift their arms, were treated with such gentleness by
the rough seamen as any trained hospital nurses could have used. Their
dirty rags