by a light breeze, and the schooner moved through the water at a rate
which seemed scarcely possible under the influence of so gentle a puff
of air. Presently the breeze increased, the vessel cut through the blue
water like a knife, leaving a long track of foam in her wake as she
headed for the coral-island before referred to. The outer reef or
barrier of coral which guarded the island was soon reached. The narrow
opening in this natural bulwark was passed. The schooner stood across
the belt of perfectly still water that lay between the reef and the
shore, and entered a small bay, where the cairn water reflected the
strip of white sand, green palm, and tropical plants that skirted its
margin, as well as the purple hills of the interior.

Here she swept round in a sudden but graceful curve, until all her
canvas fluttered in the breeze, and then dropped anchor in about six
fathoms water.




CHAPTER II.

BUMPUS IS FIERY AND PHILOSOPHICAL--MURDEROUS DESIGNS FRUSTRATED.


The captain of the schooner, whose deep voice had so suddenly terminated
the meditations of John Bumpus, was one of those men who seem to have
been formed for the special purpose of leading and commanding their
fellows.

He was not only unusually tall and powerful,--physical qualities which,