A moment afterward, and before he had time to come to the surface again, the spot where he had disappeared became tinged with blood, and the fins of several huge sharks appeared between the waves. Raising his eyes to the horizon from this terrible scene, Frederick suddenly exclaimed:
“A sail, a sail!”
RESCUE OF FREDERICK AND HIS FELLOW FUGITIVE.
CHAPTER XII.
IN LUCK AGAIN.
About three weeks later, a bark, whose storm-beaten and weather-stained appearance showed traces of a long and tempestuous voyage, cast anchor in the port of Batavia. Among the first to land were a couple of men who, although dressed in the garb of common sailors, yet displayed the most palpable evidence that they belonged to some other sphere in life. They presented a strange contrast to one another. The taller of the two, it was easy to see by his well-shaped hands and feet, by his clear-cut features, and by his general bearing, was a gentleman by birth and education, whereas his companion had evidently sprung from the lower classes.
“Safe at last,” muttered the former, who was no other than Frederick von Waldberg. “As long as I was on board that ship, I always had a kind of feeling that we were in danger, somehow or other, of being delivered up to the French authorities. I can't help thinking that the skipper had his doubts as to the authenticity of the story which we told him.”