“The villains who seized the Day Dream are becalmed within twenty fathoms of the shore. See to it that——”
The darky looked up in alarm, his eyes seemingly starting from their sockets, and he was on the verge of giving vent to a cry of fear when Captain Mansfield seized him by the throat.
“Don’t you dare so much as wink, or I’ll choke the breath out of your body,” he whispered, angrily, and the old man sank to his knees the very personification of terror. “Now listen carefully, and see that you do as I tell you. See to it that there is no noise made here. When the others awake tell them to remain quiet until I return.”
There was no longer any danger that Andy would betray the secret by an incautious move. The threat terrified him even more than the knowledge of the mutineers’ whereabouts, and Captain Mansfield retraced his steps to the point where he had left the mate.
During the short time he had been absent the general condition of affairs on the schooner’s deck was changed considerably.
The mutineers had come from below, probably after a night’s debauch, and the sound of angry conversation told that a quarrel was imminent.
“What has happened?” the captain asked Mr. Jenkins, in a whisper.
“I don’t know. They came out of the cabin a few seconds ago, and this row appears to be a continuation of what started below.”
“It will be a fortunate happening for us, if they get into a fight.”
“Possibly,” the mate replied, hesitatingly; “but I fail to see how it is going to be possible for us to accomplish anything without weapons when that crowd are well armed, if they have taken the trouble to search the cabin, which I reckon has been done long before this.”