ung man, about four-and-twenty years of age, lying close across the
doorway, and covered with wounds. His left arm was almost completely
cut through; a long gash had laid his forehead open from above the right
temple to the left eyebrow; a pistol-bullet had entered his forehead
nearly fair between the eyes; and blood had evidently flowed copiously
from his right breast. This body lay across three others, dressed in
the usual attire of seamen.

On a sofa, which stretched entirely across the after-part of the cabin,
lay the body of a young girl; and lastly, under the cabin-table, lay
another body, from which, whilst we stood gazing in speechless horror at
these evidences of diabolical atrocity, a faint groan issued.

Bob assisted me to draw the sufferer from under the table; and we then
saw that he was an old man, grey-haired, and dressed in fine blue cloth
garnished with gilt buttons, and a strip of gold lace round the cuffs of
the jacket; no doubt the master of the vessel.

The cabin had, notwithstanding the ghastly appearance it presented, been
the scene of a wild carouse, for the table was covered with glasses and
wine and spirit bottles, and broken bottles and glasses littered the
floor. I searched among the contents of the table until I found a
bottle only partly empty, and from this I poured out a glass of its
contents, which proved to be port, and managed with considerable
difficulty to get a small quantity of the wine down the wounded man's
throat. The skylight was open, and the air, coming down through it in a
cool gentle breeze, assisted the wine in restoring him to consciousness.
He opened his eyes, and gazed round him vacantly for a moment or so,
and then memory returned, and he burst violently into tears. We soothed
him as well as we could, assuring him that we were friends, and that we
would not leave him; and in a minute or two he recovered strength and
composure enough to speak.

"Thank you, gentlemen, thank you," said he, "but my time here is very
short, and your well-meant efforts for my relief are not only useless,
but they also increase my suffering. You are, I presume, from some ship
which has come up with us since those fiends left. Kindly prop me up a
little higher on the sofa, gentlemen, if you please, and I will
endeavour to tell you what has happened before I pass away."

We did so; and as we were making his position as easy as we could for
him, his eye fell upon the body of the young