By the light of the blazing rigging he saw the body of a man lying in a pool of blood in the bunk he had so lately occupied.
"Great heavens!" exclaimed the boy, "this is the work of the red-whiskered sailor, and I firmly believe he mistook this man for me. Poor fellow! he no doubt crawled in my bunk after I left it, thinking it was cooler there. I am now sure the man with the thumbless hand is Doc Clancy."
But there was no time for any further speculation, and Van knew this well.
Seizing his little bundle, he dashed up the companion way and ran to assist the crew in loading the boats.
One of these was missing, as well as two of the crew, and the captain was at a loss to understand it.
Van ran his eye over the group of sailors, and saw that the red-whiskered fellow was one of the missing ones.
He quickly informed the mate of what he knew.
"It was he who set ther ship afire, then!" exclaimed Lank Edwards. "We'll chase him up an' catch him yet, see if we don't."
The flames were now gaining rapid headway, and it behooved those on board the doomed vessel to be as expeditious as possible.