In half an hour the crew had rowed to the vessel and returned without boarding her. They reported that the ship was leaking badly and had been abandoned by her crew, after suffering severely from the late storm. Her masts had all gone by the side; her sails were blown to rags; her bulwarks were stove in. She was rudderless and it was a wonder how she kept afloat. When this was reported and the boat hauled up to the davits once more, the captain of the steamer ordered the engineer to go ahead, and proceeded on his course. He felt that he had done all that humanity required of him. Scarcely had the dull, heavy beat of the enormous engines made themselves heard in the vibrating ship than a commotion was seen in the forecastle. Jack ran forward to ascertain the cause. A man was seen struggling fiercely with the sailors, who were trying to detain him. It was Bambino. By some means, while the steamer was lying to, he had contrived to escape from the place in which he was confined. "Stop him!" cried Jack. "Knock him down, he is dangerous." Bambino, however, was too much for his opponents, and dashing them on one side, made a flying leap and sprung over the side into the sea. Whether he dived like a duck or was sucked under the ship and struck by one of the flanges of the screw, it was difficult to tell. He was looked for in all directions. The steamer was again stopped and the boat lowered, but nothing could be seen of the man overboard. "He is gone to his last account," said the captain, "and he is no loss." "I'd rather have had him live," replied Jack, to whom this remark was addressed, "and somehow, I can't quite make up my mind that the fellow was born to be drowned." "Hanging is certainly more in his line." "That is so," said Jack. The steamer once more proceeded on her way, and Jack amused himself by scanning the expanse of ocean, through an opera-glass. He fancied he saw a dark object resembling a man struggling with the waves in the vicinity of the abandoned vessel. It was quickly left behind, and thinking it might have been his imagination, he dismissed Bambino from his mind. CHAPTER VI. THE ABANDONED SHIP. The crafty Italian, however; was not so easily disposed of. He was perfectly at home in the water, and had, by diving, kept himself concealed from view, his intention being to swim toward the abandoned vessel, which he had seen as soon as he came on deck. He knew that a long term of imprisonment awaited him, if he was taken to New York, and he deemed any risk, no matter how desperate, preferable to that fate. This decided him in jumping overboard. In time, he succeeded in reaching the water-logged ship, which rolled uneasily upon the heaving bosom of the deep. Climbing up the chains, he got on board and found himself the sole master of a fine vessel. She was partly laden with timber, which accounted for her keeping afloat, in the disabled condition in which she was.