“Yes,” said the man who had first spoken, “bad news.”
“Tell me,” cried Jack, hoarsely, as he pressed forward to gaze full in the speaker’s face, “what is it? They have not sent him away?”
The man was silent; and as the rest of the crew, attracted by the return of the boat, clustered round, Jack reeled.
“Stand by, my lad,” whispered Bart at his ear. “Don’t forget.”
The words seemed to give nerve to the sturdy, broad-shouldered young man, who spoke hoarsely.
“Tried and condemned,” he said, in a hoarse, strange voice.
“They’ve hung him—”
“What!”
“In chains on a gibbet.”
A hoarse, guttural sound escaped from Jack’s throat as he clung tightly to Bart’s arm.