he well-secured
lashings by which they were bound. Thus the night passed on; tired as
all hands were, no one sat down even for a moment, and six people, armed
only with pistols and cutlasses and a couple of muskets, were able to
keep three hundred in subjection.

"I'd give a good deal to be able to turn into my hammock!" exclaimed
Desmond.

"We may have the chance before long, then," said Tom. "See, there are
the first streaks of dawn; and, hurrah! there comes the ship. I thought
I saw her a minute ago, and now! I am certain of it," he added, looking
through his telescope. "She'll be here in less than an hour."

As daylight increased, some of the blacks caught sight of the ship,
which, steaming on, head to wind, seemed to create no little
astonishment, and still more alarm, in their minds. The seamen did
their best to quiet them, going round and round the circle, and talking
in cheerful tones, which had their due effect, although the words they
spoke were not understood. Desmond proposed getting some more wood and
provisions from the dhow. They were quickly brought on shore, when the
fires, which had almost burned out, were again made up and another
supply of food cooked. The same scene took place as before. The poor
negroes scrambled and screamed over it, though the seamen did their best
to serve it out impartially. Then the Arabs had their share of food,
and the wounded men were looked to. One of them had died during the
night, it having been impossible to attend to him--indeed, they were not
aware how badly he had been hurt.

With infinite satisfaction the two midshipmen at length saw their ship
come to an anchor. A couple of musket-shots attracted the attention of
those on the look-out on board, and a boat was seen to put off from her.
In a short time Higson, with a party of men well armed, stepped on
shore. "I can heartily compliment you both," he said, after he had
heard the account Tom and Gerald gave of their proceedings. "Now, the
sooner we get these poor fellows on board the better. We have a good
number already, and there must be as many more, from what I saw on the
island; but they stow pretty closely, and we must make the best of our
way to the Seychelles or some other place to dispose of them. The Arabs
deserve to be left behind, but, as they would certainly die in this
inhospitable region, we must in charity carry them off and leave them to
be disposed of by the Sultan of Zanzibar as