"Ask him now, then; and tell him to say to Mr De Walden that he is wanted."
"I'll tell you what,"—(at this moment struck in old Davie),—"I am deucedly done up, so tip me the case-bottle again, and I will make another tumbler of grog, and then turn in till daylight—for even if we make the frigate out, what use is there in"——
"Hush," said I, "what is that?" There was a buzz on deck, and a rattling up the ladder of the people from below, and we could hear a voice say, "Mr De Walden! he is not in the berth below,"—another responded, "The captain's steward says he is not in the cabin."—"Is Mr De Walden forward there, boatswain?"—"No," sung out a gruff voice, sounding low, and mollified by distance,—"No Mr De Walden here."
"Is Mr De Walden aft there?" continued little Binnacle.
"No sir—no."
A sudden light flashed on me—I trembled, and a chill curdled the blood at my heart, for I had not seen him since we had hove the schooner on the reef. I ran on deck, but as I ascended the ladder, "Pooh," said I to myself, "all nonsense—why put myself into a flurry?" And as I stepped off the ladder, little Binnacle called down the main-hatchway—
"I say, De Walden—Henry—Henry De Walden—come on deck, man—come on deck—this is no time for skylarking—Mr Lanyard is on deck."
Several gruff voices replied from below, "Mr De Walden is not here, sir."—"No Mr De Walden here."
The buzz increased—"Is Mr De Walden forward there?"
"No."