This again and again, but all was silent; and a curious feeling of awe crept over me as I gazed at the barque lying there on the reef as if it were dead, while the column of smoke, which now looked much bigger, twisted and writhed as it rolled over and over up from just abaft the broken foremast. "Steady," cried the lieutenant; "the water's getting shoal. Keep a good look-out forward, Jones." For all at once the water in front of us, from being smooth and oily, suddenly became agitated, and I saw that we had startled and were driving before us a shoal of good-sized fish, some of which, in their eagerness to escape, sprang out of the water and fell back with a splash. "Plenty yet, sir," said the man in the bows, standing up now with the boat-hook. "Good fathom under us." "Right. Steady, my lads." We were only about a hundred yards from the barque now, and the water deepened again, showing that we had been crossing a reef; but the bottom was still visible, as I glanced once over the side, but only for a moment, for there was a peculiar saddening attraction about the silent ship, and I don't know how it was, but I felt as if I was going to see something dreadful. Under the lieutenant's directions, I steered the boat so that we glided round to the other side, passing under the stern, and then ran alongside, with the bulwarks hanging over towards us, and made out that the vessel had evidently been in fairly deep water close by, and had been run on to the rocks where two reefs met and closed-in a deep channel. How are we going to get on board? I asked myself, as I looked upward; but I was soon made aware of that, for right forward there was a quantity of the top-hamper of the broken mast with a couple of the square sails awash, so that there was no difficulty about scrambling up. "I don't think there is any one on board, Herrick," said Mr Brooke, "but sailors should always be on the _qui vive_. Stay in the boat, if you like." "I don't like, sir," I said, as soon as he had given orders to four men to follow us, and the next minute we were climbing up to stand upon the deck. "No doubt about it," said Mr Brooke through his teeth. "She has been plundered, and then left to drift ashore or to burn." For there from the forehold curled up the pillar of smoke we had seen, and a dull crackling noise came up, telling that, though slowly, the fire was steadily burning. We could not see much below for the smoke, and Mr Brooke led the way forward to the forecastle hatch, which lay open. "Below! Any one there?" cried my officer, but all was silent as the grave. One of the men looked at him eagerly. "Yes, jump down." The man lowered himself down into the dark forecastle, and made a quick inspection. "Any one there?" "No, sir. Place clear and the men's kits all gone." "Come up."