for a moment seemed touched by the earnest appeal of the
artist, but he regained his stern composure, and merely said:

"Mr. Wyatt, you are mad. I cannot listen to you. Sit down, I say, or you
will swamp the boat. Stay! hold him, seize him! he is about to spring
overboard! There--I knew it--he is over!"

As the Captain said this, Mr. Wyatt, in fact, sprang from the boat, and,
as we were yet in the lee of the wreck, succeeded, by almost superhuman
exertion, in getting hold of a rope which hung from the forechains. In
another moment he was on board, and rushing frantically down into the
cabin.

In the meantime we had been swept astern of the ship, and being quite
out of her lee, were at the mercy of the tremendous sea which was still
running. We made a determined effort to put back, but our little boat
was like a feather in the breath of the tempest. We saw at a glance that
the doom of the unfortunate artist was sealed.

As our distance from the wreck rapidly increased, the madman (for as
such only could we regard him) was seen to emerge from the companionway,
up which, by dint of strength that appeared gigantic, he dragged,
bodily, the oblong box. While we gazed in the extremity of astonishment,
he passed rapidly several turns of a three-inch rope, first around the
box and then around his body. In another instant both body and box were
in the sea, disappearing suddenly, at once and forever.

We lingered awhile sadly upon our oars, with our eyes riveted upon the
spot. At length we pulled away. The silence remained unbroken for an
hour. Finally I hazarded a remark.

"Did you observe, Captain, how suddenly they sank? Was not that an
exceedingly singular thing? I confess that I entertained some feeble
hope of his final deliverance when I saw him lash himself to the box and
commit himself to the sea."

"They sank as a matter of course," replied the Captain, "and that like a
shot. They will soon rise again, however, but not till the salt melts."

"The salt!" I ejaculated.

"Hush!" said the Captain, pointing to the wife and sisters of the
deceased. "We must talk of these things at some more appropriate time."

* * * * *

We suffered much and made a narrow escape; but fortune befriended us, as
well as our mates in the long-boat. We landed, in fine, more dead than
alive, after four days of intense distress, upon the beach opposite
Roanoke Island. We remained here a week, were not ill-tre