“How long after you felt the board rise?”
“Perhaps a minute, possibly two.”
“Go on.”
“Just after, the ship’s bell struck six—three o’clock. The main cabin was dark. There was a light in the chart-room, from the binnacle light. I felt my way to Mr. Vail’s room. I heard him breathing. His door was open. I struck a match and looked at him. He had stopped breathing.”
“What was the state of his bunk?”
“Disordered—horrible. He was almost hacked to pieces.”
“Go on.”
“I ran back and got my revolver. I thought there had been a mutiny—”
“Confine yourself to what you saw and did. The court is not interested in what you thought.”
“I am only trying to explain what I did. I ran back to the storeroom and got my revolver, and ran back through the chart-room to the after companion, which had a hood. I thought that if any one was lying in ambush, the hood would protect me until I could get to the deck. I told the helmsman what had happened, and ran forward. Mr. Singleton was on the forecastle-head. We went below together, and found the captain lying at the foot of the forward companion, also dead.”