“How? Why?”
“He would have had a few sham lumps of coal conveyed into the bunkers—hollow pieces of cast iron, full of powder or dynamite; one or two would have been thrown into the furnace in firing, and the poor vessel would have had a hole blown in her, and gone to the bottom before we knew what was the matter.”
“Diabolical!” exclaimed Dutch, below his breath.
“Oh, here is the grains,” said the captain, as Oakum came along with an implement something like an eel spear, or the trident Neptune is represented as carrying, except that in this case, instead of three, it was furnished with five sharp barbed teeth, and a thin, strong cord was attached to the middle of the shaft. “Would you like to try?” he continued, turning to Tonio, who stood close at hand.
“Yes, I’ll try,” said the mulatto, in a guttural voice.
“Let him have the grains, Oakum,” said the captain, to the great disappointment of several of the men. “These fellows are, some of them, very clever this way.”
The mulatto eagerly took the spear, fastened the cord around his wrist, and, followed by several of the men, went forward to the bowsprit, climbed out, and, descending, stood bare-footed on one of the stays, bending down with the weapon poised ready to dart it at the first likely fish that came within range.
“I am all impatient to hear more,” said Dutch, still watching the fish that played about in the blue water.
“And I am all impatient to find out more,” said the captain; “but we must be patient.”
“Then you know nothing?”