enjoying himself below and neglecting his duty. It was a painful sacrifice for this true sailor to see this magnificent ship doomed through the incapacity of these pirates, yet it was better she should be wrecked than be used in such a diabolical cause, for he had now abandoned all hopes of recapturing her.
Thus he had prepared them all that day for the events of the night, and when she struck they were provided with life-belts and ready in secure places, so that no one was damaged, as the Anarchists were, with the concussion.
They had dined early on the ready-cooked provisions which the stewards had piled up in the saloon, and on which they had satisfied their cravings for the past ten days, for their desperate position had not deprived them of their appetites, therefore they were not so badly off.
As the Anarchists had done, they all rushed up to the open deck after the first thud, where, superintended and assisted by the captain and his officers, they linked themselves together and waited their chance also to get away.
They saw Anatole go off with the rope, and after the last of the living Anarchists had gone they also took advantage of it, and so reached the shore, with their own share of suffering, yet without a single loss, thanks to the devotion and care of the well-trained seamen.
But it was a terrible passage for all the care taken of them, and they were well-nigh as exhausted as their enemies, who had first reached the ledge, and now lay like corpses in the darkness.
They had no idea where they were, or how much room there was on the ledge, but at the same time
