otege_, from the blowing up of the
_Pandora_ until six suns had risen and gone down over the ocean, if not
so varied as those of Ben Brace and his _protege_, were nevertheless of
sufficient interest to deserve a brief narration.

Supported by the few sticks which he had been able to draw together, he
had remained during the rest of the night in the midst of the floating
fragments.

He had listened to the wild shouts of vengeful rage, proceeding from the
throats of the slaves as they clutched at the great raft, and were
beaten back by those who occupied it. He had seen the broad sail
suddenly hoisted, and the dark mass gradually gliding away over the
ocean. He had heard many an agonising yell as, one by one, the few
strong swimmers who survived the rest either sank by exhaustion or were
dragged down in the jaws of the numerous sharks; until, the last shriek
having sounded in his ears, all became silent as the tomb, while the
sombre surface of the sea once more lay motionless around him. Even the
ravening monsters, for a moment, seemed to have forsaken the spot,--as
if each, having secured a sufficient prey, had gone down to devour it
undisturbed in the dark unfathomed caverns of the deep.

When morning dawned upon the scene, although many objects met the eye of
the negro and his companion, there was no human being within sight; and
Snowball knew that, with the exception of the six men who had rowed off
in the gig, and the crew upon the great raft, there were no other
survivors of the slaver.

The crew having spread a sail to get out of reach of the drowning
wretches who were clutching at their raft, the latter was soon carried
out of sight; while the six in the gig had rowed off as fast as they
were able, in order to get out of reach of their own companions! For
these reasons, when day broke over the ocean, neither boat nor raft were
visible from the spot where the catastrophe had occurred.

It may appear strange that none of the living cargo of the slaver had
succeeded in saving themselves, by clinging to some fragment of the
wreck; and Snowball thought so at the time.

The truth was, that those who could swim had struck out after the raft,
and had followed it so far that they were not able to swim back to the
burning vessel; while the others, in the wild terror produced by the
proximity of the flames, had leaped despairingly into the sea, and sunk
upon the instant.

The early sunbeams, as they fell slanting