"In addition to the navigating of the ship, I was obliged to constantly superintend the setting and taking in of the sails, the steering of the ship, and many other matters, so that I dared not go below even for my meals. The afternoon of the day before I expected to reach port I was completely worn out with my labors, and almost sick from lack of sleep. At last I could stand guard no longer, so I went through a regular pantomime with the man at the wheel, signifying that he was to keep the ship going just as she was. Then I threw myself down on top of the cabin-house, and immediately fell asleep. "It was quite dark when I was awaked by Nero shaking me roughly and uttering loud and angry yelps. In one jump I made the wheel, jammed it hard over, brought the vessel to her course again, then called Nero, who stood on top of the cabin whining in an ugly way at the Chinamen who were grouped about the door of the carpenter's shop alongside the galley. "I saw through the trick at once. The wheelsman had calculated that by deserting his post, the ship would fly up into the wind and be wrecked in the strong breeze then blowing. In this way the vengeful spirit of the men was to be satisfied. When they saw that their plan had failed they sullenly entered the hold through the booby-hatch, and that was the last I ever saw of my Chinese crew. "I waited a little while, then lashed the wheel, pulled off my shoes, and sneaking forward noiselessly closed the door of the hatch and slipped the bolt into its socket. That accomplished, I went back to the wheel much easier in mind, for I knew that the crew could not gain the deck in any other way. "During the night the wind died completely away, leaving the vessel becalmed, and the sea subsided into long, easy swells. I dozed at intervals, trusting to Nero to warn me of any new danger, and so obtained some little rest. Just before daybreak, upon awakening from one of these cat-naps, I became sensible that the ship was lifting in a very sluggish way to the seas, and that her motion was new and strange. Casting my eyes over the side, I was almost petrified to see that the vessel had settled in the water almost to her deck-line, and was rapidly sinking under my feet. At the same instant there came a violent pounding forward from the inside of the booby-hatch and a chorus of wild and agonizing yells. "In a flash the heathenish trick was revealed to me. The Chinamen had determined not to be cheated out of their revenge, so had bored holes in the ship with an auger taken from the carpenter's chest. They had expected to rush out on deck in time and escape in one of the boats, probably leaving me to go down in my vessel, but found their way blocked by the locked door of the hatch.