He was quite right, for, though the presence of four men weighed her down heavily, and sent her gunwale once more nearly level with the surface, it soon began to rise again as, pint by pint, the interior was relieved, until another man crept in, and soon after another, till the whole crew were back, and the lieutenant got in last. Ten minutes later two men forward were steadily baling, whilst two others seized their oars, under the lieutenant's direction, and getting the boat's head round as they sat there with the water still well up over their ankles, they began to pull steadily in the direction of the _Nautilus_, now nearly invisible in the distant silvery haze. They were still so heavily water-logged that progress was very slow, but this was no discouragement, for their position improved minute by minute, and the men were so much cheered that they put plenty of spirit into their work. But before they had taken many strokes the lieutenant gave the order to stop, and Mark shuddered as he saw the reason. Mr Russell had turned to the rudder-lines, and there was a terrible burden towing astern. Those were solemn moments which followed. The lieutenant signed to the coxswain to come, and then helped him to draw the lifeless body of the poor fellow over the gunwale, and, as decently as was possible, laid the remains of what had once been a big, strong man in the bottom of the boat. A flag was then taken from the locker and covered over him, just as, by a strange coincidence, and very faintly heard, came the report of a gun. The coxswain then went forward and helped with the baling, while the men recommenced rowing in silence. "The lads will think all this unnecessary, Vandean," said the lieutenant in a low voice, as Mark sat by his side; "but it would be horribly un-English to leave the poor wretch floating at the mercy of the waves. He was free enough, poor fellow, before we shaded him with the British flag. What would you have done?" "As you have, sir," replied the lad. "I couldn't have left him behind, though it seems very horrible to have taken him on board, and to have him here with us in the night." "All fanciful sentiment, Van, my lad. What is there in that poor fellow now to excite our fear? Come, you must be more manly than that. Cold?" "Yes; very, now." "So am I, my lad. These wet things are not comfortable. We'll take to the oars and row for a bit to keep off the chill. Why, Vandean, you ought to be well praised for this night's work. I feel quite ashamed of myself for letting you suggest a way out of our difficulty with the capsized boat." "Oh, it was nothing, sir. It just occurred to me," replied Mark. "I wish it had just occurred to me, my lad; and what is more, I wish we could see the _Nautilus_ coming towards us with the slave schooner astern, but there is no such good fortune in store for us till morning."