It was no longer possible to put off the duel. Only a few hours
separated us from the moment when Fabian and Harry Drake must meet. What
could be the reason of this haste? How was it that Harry Drake had not
delayed the duel until he and his enemy had disembarked? Was it because
this ship, freighted by a French company, seemed to him the most
favourable ground for a meeting which must be a deadly struggle? Or
rather, might not Drake have a secret interest in freeing himself of
Fabian before the latter could set foot on the American continent, or
suspect the presence of Ellen on board, which he must have thought was
unknown to all save himself? Yes, it must have been for this reason.
“Little matter, after all,” said the Captain; “far better to have it
over.”
“Shall I ask Dr. Pitferge to be present at the duel as a doctor?”
“Yes, it would be well to do so.”
Corsican left me to go to Fabian. At this moment the bell on deck began
tolling, and when I inquired of a steersman the reason of this unusual
occurrence, he told me that it was for the burial of the sailor who had
died in the night, and that the sad ceremony was about to take place.
The sky, until now so clear, became overcast, and dark clouds loomed
threateningly in the south.
At the sound of the bell the passengers flocked to the starboard side.
The bridges, paddle-boards, bulwarks, masts and shore-boats, hanging
from their davits, were crowded with spectators, the officers, sailors,
and stokers off duty, stood in ranks on deck.
At two o’clock a group of sailors appeared at the far end of the upper
deck, they had left the hospital, and were passing the rudder-engine.
The corpse, sewn in a piece of sail and stretched on a board, with a
cannon ball at the feet, was carried by four men. The body, covered with
the British flag, and followed by the dead man’s comrades, slowly
advanced into the midst of the spectators, who uncovered their heads as
the procession passed.
On their arrival at the starboard paddle-wheel, the corpse was deposited
on a landing of a staircase which terminated at the main deck.
In front of the row of spectators, standing one above the other, were
Captain Anderson and his principal officers in full uniform. The
Captain, holding a prayer-book in his hand, took his hat off, and for
some minutes, during a profound silence, which not even the breeze
interrupted, he solemnly read the prayer for the dead, every word of
which was distinctly audible in the deathlike silence.
[Illustration: THE PRAYER FOR THE DEAD.]
On a sign from the Captain the body, released by the bearers, sank into
the sea. For one moment it floated on the surface, became upright, and
then disappeared in a circle of foam.
At this moment the voice of the sailor on watch was heard crying “Land!”