"Lads," he said, "the ten best swimmers among you will jump into the sea, and go to the ship with me."
"Captain," the hunter exclaimed, "what do you propose doing?"
"To save you," he simply answered, as he prepared to carry out his design.
"Oh, oh," Master Lovel said hastily, "I will not allow such an act of madness."
"Silence, sir," the Captain interrupted him rudely. "I am the sole commander."
"But you are wounded!" the Master objected. In fact, Captain Johnson had received an axe stroke, which laid open his right shoulder.
"Silence! I tell you. I allow no remarks."
The old sailor bowed his head, and wiped away a tear. After squeezing the hunter's hand, the Captain and his ten sailors leaped boldly into the sea, and disappeared in the darkness. At the news of fresh danger, Carmela had fallen, completely overwhelmed, in the bottom of the boat. Master Lovel, leaning out, tried to discover his chief. Heavy tears coursed down his bronzed cheeks, and all his limbs were agitated by a convulsive quivering. The Mexicans approached nearer and nearer; they were already close enough for the number of their boats to be distinguished, and a schooner was already leaving the creek, and coming up under press canvas, to ensure the success of the attack.
At this moment a mournful cry, desperate as the last shriek of a dying man, came over the waters, and terrified all the men whom no danger could affect.
"Oh, the unhappy man!" Tranquil cried, as he rose and made a move to leap overboard. But Lovel seized him by the waist belt, and in spite of his resistance, compelled him to sit down again.