The fiery, stuff changed them from men into demons, and that night they
mutinied. The second mate, who was upon deck, attempted to check their
rush, but was felled with a cutlass and kicked overboard. Next, they
made for the cabin, where the captain and mate were sitting, while the
former's wife and child were asleep in the adjoining apartment.
There was a sharp, desperate encounter in the small space, in which
they were quickly over-powered. But when the mate was struck senseless
he rolled under the large table, and must have escaped further notice,
for after despatching the captain and his screaming wife, the mutineers
evidently took at once to the boats, and left the dismasted hulk to
founder with its gruesome freight.
But the storm was over by that time, and it had drifted for two days
and nights, at least, by the mate's reckoning, during which he had lain
unconscious, wondrously preserved from death.
What was the fate of the seamen thus deserting no one could tell, but
with men insensate from arrack, even should they have escaped immediate
danger from the sea, they could hardly make port safely in a small open
boat.
It was more than probable that the mate was the only one left of the
ill-fated crew. Captain Hosmer was unable to take the tartan in tow on
account of the storm, but marked its location to report it at Algiers,
that wreckers might be sent to save the cargo and sink the hulk that it
should no longer be a menace and danger to every passing craft.
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