Both captain and mate held their fire, and lowered their muskets. They saw that the work would be done as well without them; and I am positive that I perceived at that moment a grim smile of satisfaction on the faces of both!
“Poor Dutchy!” cried a voice, “he’ll never reach the bank! It’s all up with him—he’ll be swallowed whole, bones, body and all. See!”
It was almost literally as the man had predicted. As he uttered the final exclamation the dark monster—now within a few feet of its victim—made a rapid dash forward, its long, notched back rose high above the water; and seizing the swimmer between its strong, bony jaws, commenced dragging him under. A wild scream of agony pealed from the lips of the unfortunate man, that echoed afar into the surrounding woods; but before the echoes had died away, the monster with its victim had sunk beneath the surface; and a few bloodstained bubbles were all that remained to mark the spot where the terrible incident had occurred.
“Served him right!” vociferated the captain, with a fearful oath; “served him right, the good-for-nothing lumber—he’s not much loss, we can spare him, I dare say.”
“Ay, ay!” assented the mate, also with the embellishment of an oath, and then added:—
“A lesson to all runaways! If the son of a sea-cook had stayed where he was he’d have missed that; but if the fool likes better to be in the belly of a crocodile than the forecastle of a good ship, he’s had his choice. All I’ve got to say is, it’s a queer craft he’s chosen to ship aboard o’.”
The captain answered this sally with a horse laugh, in which he was joined by several of the unfeeling crew; and then both mate and captain, having restored their muskets to the rack, betook themselves once more to their hammocks and fell asleep. The sailors, grouping round the windlass, remained for awhile conversing upon the awful incidents that had transpired, but the tone of the conversation proved that the occurrence gave them but little concern. Some even laughed as they talked; and jests were uttered as to whether Dutchy had made a will, and who was to be heir to his “property.” As the poor fellow in reality possessed no property—his whole effects consisting of a few tattered rags of dress, a tin platter, with an old knife, fork, and spoon—the joke was all the more piquant, and the fellows laughed heartily at it.
It was finally agreed upon that they should “raffle” for Dutchy’s “kit” in the morning; and this point being settled, one by one dropped off, some to sleep in their bunks in the forecastle, and others upon the deck or in hammock slung to the spars and rigging.
All were soon asleep, and silence once more brooded over the scene. I alone could not sleep, but stood looking over the side of the vessel, my eyes fixed on the spot where the unfortunate man had been last seen. There was nothing to guide the eye—not a trace of the short, sanguinary struggle. The crimsoned froth had long since floated away, and the dark wafer flowed on without even a ripple upon its surface; but for all that I could still see with the eye of my fancy—that horrid picture—the hideous monster, with its victim grasped transversely between its horrid jaws, and I could still hear the scream of agony echoing far off in the woods.
Of course it was but fancy. There was no sound stirring even of wind or water. Above and around reigned an impressive stillness, as if Nature herself, by that dread event, had been awed into silence!