pistol once more, I waited for them to come. The only anxiety which I
felt was about my poor faithful Malay.

"But time passed, and at last all was still. There was no sound either
of voices or of footsteps. I waited for what seemed hours in impatience,
until finally I could endure it no longer. I was not going to die like a
dog, but determined at all hazards to go out armed, face them, and meet
my doom at once.

"A few vigorous kicks at the door broke it open and I walked out. There
was no one in the cabin. I went out on deck. There was no one there. I
saw it all. I was deserted. More; the brig had settled down so low in
the water that the sea was up to her gunwales. I looked out over the
ocean to see if I could perceive any trace of them--Potts and the rest.
I saw nothing. They must have left long before. A faint smoke in the
hatchway attracted my attention. Looking there, I perceived that it had
been burned away. The villains had evidently tried to scuttle the brig,
and then, to make doubly sure, had kindled a fire on the cargo, thinking
that the wooden materials of which it was composed would kindle readily.
But the water had rushed in too rapidly for the flames to spread;
nevertheless, the water was not able to do its work, for the wood cargo
kept the brig afloat. She was water-logged but still floating.

"The masts and shrouds were all cut away. The vessel was now little
better than a raft, and was drifting at the mercy of the ocean currents.
For my part I did not much care. I had no desire to go to Manilla or any
where else; and the love of life which is usually so strong did not
exist. I should have preferred to have been killed or drowned at once.
Instead of that I lived.