Christy understood the character of Captain Flanger well enough to be confident he meant mischief to him in getting him into the boat. He concluded that this movement was the result of the conference with the mate. He had a suspicion that his terrible enemy intended to drown him, or get rid of him in some other manner.

"May I ask where I am to be taken in the boat, Mr. Dawbin?" asked the prisoner, suppressing as much as he could the excitement that disturbed him.

"I give you leave to ask, but I cannot answer you," replied the mate.

"If you intend to put me on board of that steamer, it can do no harm to say so, I think," added Christy.

"If you will excuse me, Mr. Passford, I cannot answer any questions. I ask you again to get into the boat," said Mr. Dawbin.

269 "Well, sir, suppose I decline to do so?"

"Then I shall be compelled to use force, and tumble you into the boat in the best way I can, with the assistance of my men."

"If you intend to murder me, why can't you do the deed here on deck?" demanded the prisoner.

"I don't intend to murder you."

"That is some consolation. That lighthouse on the Great Isaac is the only place to which you can convey me, and that is sixteen miles from this steamer. I can't believe you intend to pull me that distance."

"No fooling there!" shouted the captain. "What are you waiting for, Mr. Dawbin? Why don't you obey my order?"

"The fellow wants to talk," replied the mate.

"If he won't get into the boat, pitch him into it like a dead dog!"

Christy saw that it was useless to resist, though he had a revolver in his pocket which had not been taken from him, for he had not been searched. The mate and two sailors stood in front of him, and he realized that he could accomplish nothing by resistance under present circumstances. He thought he could do better in the boat after it was 270 beyond the reach of any reinforcements from the steamer. He went over the side, and took his place in the stern sheets.

The mate followed him, and the two men, one of whom was hardly more than a boy, took their places on the thwarts. The boat was shoved off, and the prisoner had an immediate interest in the course it was about to steer. The mate arranged the tiller lines, and then looked about him.

He directed his gaze towards the north, and seemed to be trying to find some object or point. He satisfied himself in some manner, and then resumed his seat, from which he had risen in order to obtain a better view over the waves. The passenger had watched him closely, and found that his vision had been directed towards the rocks awash and the East Isaac rock. Towards these objects he steered the boat. The Chateaugay was at least three miles to the eastward of these rocks.

Christy watched the course of the boat long enough to satisfy himself that it was headed for the rocks, which were awash at high tide, though they now looked like a minute island. There could be but one object in visiting this locality: 271 and that must be to leave him on that desolate reef. The wind was still fresh from the north-west, and the spray was dashed over the rocks in a manner which suggested that a human being could not remain long on it after the tide was high without being washed off. It was little better than murder to leave him there, and he knew very well that Captain Flanger would shed no tears if assured that his troublesome prisoner was no more.

Christy decided that he would not be left on the reef, or even on the top of the East Isaac, which might be a drier place, though hardly more comfortable. It must have been Mr. Dawbin who had suggested the idea of landing him on the reef, for there was no other place nearer than the Great Isaac light. Captain Flanger had boasted that he sailed a vessel on a peaceful mission, and that the commander of the Chateaugay had no more right to capture him than he had to murder him. But the prisoner knew that the Snapper was to run the blockade, and was bound to Mobile, for the captain had told him so himself.

The commander could now see the folly of his boast. He had not expected to encounter a United States man-of-war in the Bahamas. His prisoner 272 was a naval officer, and would be a strong witness against him. Upon his testimony, and such other evidence as the cargo and other circumstances might supply, the captain of the steamer in the channel might feel justified in making a prize of the Snapper. It was necessary, therefore, to remove this witness against him. As Christy had imagined, the captain had not thought of his prisoner as a witness, and the mate had suggested it to him.

"I suppose I need not ask you what is to be done with me, for that is sufficiently apparent now," said Christy, more to engage the attention of the mate than for any other reason.

"You can form your own conclusion," replied Mr. Dawbin.

"You intend to leave me on that reef ahead, and doubtless you expect me to be washed off and drowned, or starved to death there," added the prisoner. "I can't see why you take all this trouble when you could more conveniently blow my brains out."

"The captain has promised not to harm you, Mr. Passford, and he will keep his word," replied the mate with very ill grace.

"I consider it worse than murder to leave me 273 on that reef, or any of these rocks, Mr. Dawbin. Since I understand your intention, I might as well put a bullet through my own head, and save myself from all the suffering in store for me," said Christy, assuming the manner of one rendered desperate by his situation. "Have you a revolver in your pocket?"

"I have not a revolver in my pocket; and if I had I should not lend it to you to shoot yourself," replied the mate.

Mr. Dawbin had no revolver in his pocket, and that was all the prisoner had been driving at. He was equal............