Murray, who was one of the outermost men, was thrown off the yard into the sea. As the great waves tossed him up, we saw him struggling to swim, handicapped as he was by his heavy oil-skins. A boat was cleared away and volunteers were called for to endeavor to rescue Murray. I stood forth with the rest of the crew--I saw no one hold back--but a crew of our strongest men was chosen, and all we could do was to stand on a yard and watch the progress of the little boat. The seas poured into her. We could see two of her men baling desperately. At last we lost sight of her in the mists. An hour later, when we were worrying greatly over the fate not only of Murray, but also of the boat's crew, the mist cleared and showed our location to the men struggling out there in the furious ocean. They gradually made their way towards us and were pulled on deck exhausted. They said that they had caught one glimpse of Murray, but as they pulled desperately to reach him the mist had drifted between him and them--a mist that was to him as a shroud. CHAPTER VI MUTINY "_'Twas on a Black Baller I first served my time_, Yo ho, blow the man down! _And on that Black Baller I wasted my prime_, Oh, give me some time to blow the man down!" Murad had been forced to ship some of the toughest rascals in Baltimore in order to complete his crew. They were men who had gotten into trouble through acts of violence ashore, and were forced to take to sea. They, too, had heard rumors that Murad was a spy in the employ of the Barbary powers, but it did not seem to bother them. I am of the opinion that they meant to seize the vessel before it had sailed out of sight of the Atlantic coast. If such was their plan, Mr. Bludsoe, the mate, was their chief obstacle. He was a fearless, muscular man, and a belaying-pin in his hand was a deadly weapon. Even in a plain fist fight he was equal to two of them. He was not overfond of the Egyptian, yet he was the sort of person who stuck to a task once he had entered on it. He suspected Steve Dunn and his crowd of an intention to murder the officers and seize the ship, and told the skipper of his suspicions. Murad gave orders that we should be mustered before him. We were under the guns of an American frigate when the orders were issued, and the crew obeyed promptly. "You men have far more weapons on your persons than is necessary," the Egyptian said smoothly. "In the interest of good fellowship, and to keep you from slashing and shooting at each other, I desire you to leave your knives and pistols in my care. Mr. Bludsoe, you will search the men's berths and bags and bring to me for safe-keeping any weapons you find!" I saw sullen glances exchanged by Steve Dunn, Mulligan and other members of the crew. "We ain't none of us planning any trouble among ourselves!" said Steve. "We don't know when this here vessel is going to be boarded by pirates and we want our weapons handy!"