For some seconds the sailor and Snowball remained silent,--both too busy
with their oars, as well as their eyes, to find time for speech.
Their pursuers were noisy enough. They had kept quiet, so long as there
appeared to be any uncertainty about the results of the chase; but as
soon as they became assured that their clumsy craft was going faster
than that of which they were in pursuit,--and they no longer felt doubt
about overtaking the latter,--their fiendish voices once more filled the
air; and commands for the Catamarans to come to,--with threats of
revenge in case of non-compliance,--were hurled after the fugitives.
One man was conspicuous among the rest both for the position which he
held upon the raft and the menacing words and gestures of which he made
use. This man was Le Gros.
Standing prominently forward, near the head of the embarkation, with a
long boat-hook in his hand, he appeared to direct the movements of the
others,--urging them in every way to their utmost exertions. He was
heard telling them that he saw both food and water in possession of the
fugitives--a cask of the latter, as he stated, being lashed to the
_Catamaran_.
It need scarce be said that the statement--whether true or fallacious,--
acted as a stimulus to his comrades at the oar. The word "water" was
music to their ears; and, on hearing it pronounced, one and all of them
put forth their utmost strength.
The increased speed thus obtained for the larger craft war likely to
bring about the crisis. She was now seen to gain upon the lesser more
rapidly than ever; and, before another ten minutes had elapsed, she had
forged so close to the stern timbers of the _Catamaran_ that an active
man might almost have leaped from one to the other.
The crew of the latter beheld the proximity with despair. They saw the
black waves, with white curling crests, coming on behind. They saw the
sky becoming overcast above their heads; but it appeared only to scowl
upon them,--as if to make darker the dread doom that was now threatening
so near.
"Shiver my timbers!" cried the sailor, alluding to that too tardy wind,
"it will be too late to save us!"
"Too late!" echoed the voice of Le Gros from the big raft, his white
teeth, as they shone through his black beard, imparting to him a
ferocity of aspect that was hideous to behold. "Too late, you say,
Monsieur Brace. For what, may I ask? Not too late for us to get a
drink out of your water-cask. Ha! ha! ha!"
"You son of a sea-cook!" he continued, addressing himself to the negro;
"why don't you hold your oars? _Sacre-Dieu_! what's the use, you ugly
nigger? Don't you see we'll board you in six seconds more? Drop your
oars, I say, and save time. If you don't, we'll skin you alive when
we've got our flippers upon you."
"Nebba, Massa Grow!" defiantly retorted Snowball? "you nebba 'kin dis
nigga 'live. He go die 'fore you do dat. He got him knife yet. By
golly! me kill more than one ob you 'fore gib in. So hab a care, Massa
Grow! You lay hand on ole Snowy, you cotch de tarnel goss."
To this threat of resistance the Frenchman did not vouchsafe reply: for
the rafts were now so near to each other that his attention became
engrossed by something that left no time for further speech.
He saw that the _Catamaran_ was within reach of his boat-hook, and,
leaning forwards with the long shaft extended, he struck its
grappling-iron into her stern timber.
For a second or two there was a struggle, which would have ended in the
two rafts being brought in contact with one another but for an adroit
stroke given by the oar of the English sailor. This not only detached
the boat-hook from its grip, but also from the grasp of Le Gros, and
sent the implement shivering through the air.
At the same instant of time the Frenchman, losing his balance, was seen
to stagger, and then sink suddenly downwards; not into a prostrate
position, but perpendicularly,--as if his legs had penetrated between
the timbers of the raft.
This was exactly what had occurred: for as soon as the spectators in
both crafts could recover from their surprise, they saw only so much of
Monsieur Le Gros as lay between his armpits and the crown of his head,--
his limbs and the lower half of his body being concealed between the
planks that prevented him from sinking wholly into the water.
Perhaps it would have been better for him had he made a complete plunge
of it. At all events, a bold "header" could not have had for him a more
unfortunate ending. Scarce had he sunk between the timber when a wild
shriek came forth from his throat,--accompanied by a pallor of
countenance, and a contortion of his features, that proclaimed something
more than a mere "start" received by suddenly sinking waist-deep into
the sea.
One of his comrades,--the confederate ruffian already spoken of,--rushed
forward to raise him out of the trap,--from which he was evidently
unable to extricate himself.
The man caught hold of him by the arms, and was dragging him up; when,
all at once, he was seen to let go, and start back with a cry of horror!
This singular conduct was explained on looking at the object from which
he had made such a precipitate retreat. It was no longer Le Gros, nor
even Le Gros's body; but only the upper half of it, cut off by the
abdomen, as clean as if it had been severed by a pair of gigantic
shears!
"A shark!" cried a voice, which only gave utterance to the thought that
sprung up simultaneously in the minds of all,--both the occupants of the
big raft, and the crew of the Catamaran.
Thus deplorably terminated the life of a sinful man; who certainly
merited punishment, and, perhaps deserved no better fate.