Although most of the men had surrendered themselves to such slumber as
they might obtain, the silence was neither profound nor continuous. At
times no sounds were heard save the whisperings of the breeze, as it
brushed against the spread canvas, or a slight "swashing" in the water
as it was broken by the rough timbers of the craft.
These sounds were intermingled with the loud breathing of some of the
sleepers,--an occasional snore,--and now and then a muttered speech the
involuntary utterance of someone dreaming a dreadful dream.
At intervals other noises would arise, when one or more of the waking
castaways chanced to come together, to hold a short conversation; or
when one of them, scarce conscious of what he did, stumbled over the
limbs of a prostrate comrade,--perhaps awaking him from a pleasant
repose to the consciousness of the painful circumstances under which he
had been enjoying it.
Such occurrences usually led to angry altercations,--in which threats
and ribald language would for some minutes freely find vent from the
lips both of the disturbed and the disturber; and then both would
growlingly subside into silence.
At that hour, when the night was at its darkest, and the fog at its
thickest, two men might have been seen,--though only by an eye very
close to where they were,--in a sitting posture at the bottom of the
mast. They were crouching rather than seated; for they were upon their
knees, with their bodies bent forward, and one or both of their hands
resting upon the planks.
The attitude was plainly not one of repose; and anyone near enough to
have observed the two men, or to have heard the whispered conversation
that was being carried on between them, would have come to the
conclusion that sleep was far from their thoughts.
In that deep darkness, however, no one noticed them; and although
several of their companions were lying but a few feet from the bottom of
the mast, these were either asleep or too distant to hear the
whisperings that passed between the two men kneeling in juxtaposition.
They continued to talk in very low whispers,--each in turn putting his
lips close to the ear of the other; and while doing so the subject of
their conversation might have been guessed at by their glances, or at
least the individual about whom they conversed.
This was a man who was lying stretched along the timbers, not far from
the bottom of the mast, and apparently asleep. In fact he must have
been asleep, as was testified by the stentorian snores that occasionally
escaped from his wide-spread nostrils.
This noisy slumberer was the Irishman, O'Gorman,--one of the parties to
that suspended fight, to be resumed by day break in the morning.
Whatever evil deeds this man may have done during his life,--and he had
performed not a few, for we have styled him only the least guilty of
that guilty crew,--he was certainly no coward. Thus to sleep, with such
a prospect on awaking, at least proved him recklessly indifferent to
death.
The two men by the mast,--whose eyes were evidently upon him,--had no
very clear view of him where he lay. Through the white mist they could
see only something like the shape of a human being recumbent along the
planks; and of that only the legs and lower half of the body. Even had
it been daylight they could not, from their position, have seen his head
and shoulders; for both would have been concealed by the empty rum-cask,
already mentioned, which stood upon its end exactly by the spot where
O'Gorman had rested his head.
The Irishman, above all others, had taken a delight in the contents of
that cask,--so long as a drop was left; and now that it was all gone,
perhaps the smell of the alcohol had influenced him in choosing his
place of repose.
Whether or not, he was now sleeping on a spot which was to prove the
last resting-place of his life. Cruel destiny had decreed that from
that slumber he was never more to awaken!
This destiny was now being shaped out for him; and by the two
individuals who were regarding him from the bottom of the mast.
"He's sound asleep," whispered one of them to the other. "You hear that
snore? _Parbleu_! only a hog could counterfeit that."
"Sound as a top!" asserted the other.
"_C'est bon_!" whispered the first speaker, with a significant shrug of
the shoulders. "If we manage matters smartly, he need never wake again.
What say you, comrade?"
"I agree to anything you may propose," assented the other. "What is
it?"
"There need be no noise about it. A single blow will be sufficient,--if
given in the right place. With the blade of a knife through his heart,
he'll not make three kicks. He'll never know it till he's in the next
world. _Peste_! I could almost envy him such an easy way of getting
out of this!"
"You think it might be done without making a noise?"
"Easy as falling overboard. One could hold something over his mouth, to
keep his tongue quiet; while the other--You know what I mean?"
The horrid act to be performed by the other was left unspoken,--even in
those confidential whisperings.
"But," replied the confederate, objectingly, "suppose the thing done,--
how about matters in the morning? They'd know who did it. Leastwise,
their suspicions would fall upon us,--upon you to a certainty, after
what's happened. You haven't thought of that?"
"Haven't I? But I have, _mon ami_!"
"Well; and what?"
"First place. They're not in the mind to be particular,--none of
them,--so long as they get something to eat. Secondly; if they should
kick up a row, our party is the strongest; and I don't care what comes
of it. We may as well all die at once, as die by bits."
"That's true enough."
"But there's no fear of any trouble from the others. I've got an idea
that'll prevent that. To save appearances, he can commit suicide."
"What do you mean?"
"Bah! _camarade_! how dull you are. The fog has got into your skull.
Don't you know the _Irlandais_ has got a knife, and a sharp one.
_Peste_! I know it. Well,--perhaps it can be stolen from him. If so,
it can also be found sticking in the wound that will deprive him of
life. Now do you comprehend me?"
"I do,--I do!"
"First, to steal the knife. Go you: I daren't: it would look suspicious
for me to be seen near him,--that is, if he should wake up. You may
stray over that way, as if you were after nothing particular. It'll do
no harm to try."
"I'll see if I can hook it then," responded the other. "What if I try
now?"
"The sooner the better. With the knife in our possession, we'll know
better how to act. Get it, if you can."
The last speaker remained in his place. The other, rising into an erect
attitude, stepped apart from his fellow-conspirator, and moved away from
the mast,--going apparently without any design. This, however, led him
towards the empty rum-cask,--alongside of which the Irishman lay asleep,
utterly unconscious of his approach.