I felt persuaded, indeed, it would come to that before the
mate and men would submit to be the captives of such wretches as were
then in possession of the deck. Smudge and his associates, however,
appeared to be perfectly indifferent to this danger, of the character
of which they were probably ignorant. Their scheme had been very
cunningly laid; and, thus far, it was perfectly successful.
The sun was fairly up, and the savages began to think seriously of
securing their prize, when the two leaders, Smudge and the Dipper,
approached me in a manner to show they were on the point of commencing
operations. The last of these men I now discovered had a trifling
knowledge of English, which he had obtained from different ships.
Still he was a savage, to all intents and purposes, the little
information thus gleaned, serving to render his worst propensities
more dangerous, rather than, in any manner, tempering them. He now
took the lead, parading all his men in two lines on the deck, making a
significant gesture towards his fingers, and uttering, with emphasis,
the word "count." I did count the wretches, making, this time, one
hundred and six, exclusively of the two leaders.
"Tell him, down there"--growled the Dipper, pointing below.
I called for Mr. Marble, and when he had reached the companion-way,
the following conversation took place between us:
"What is it now, Miles, my hearty?" demanded the chief-mate.
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