Carrying these into his room he returned and took a pair of spare oars
wherewith to brace his door.
The confusion and waste wrought by the blacks were extreme. Bread,
meat, and vegetables lay upon the floor. Boxes and barrels were broken
open and their contents recklessly thrown about. The rum barrel had
been conveyed to the deck.
Overhead Duff could hear barbaric dancing, whooping and singing. A
noise at the head of the companion-way caused him to retreat hastily to
his own room, where he softly locked the door and used both oars as
braces. For the present he was probably safe, as his presence had not
yet been discovered.
All that day the negroes gave themselves over to eating and drinking.
The sails swung idly in the passing breezes, and as the weather was not
boisterous the schooner fared very well.
Duff slept, thought, and nursed his wound. At times he would look from
his little window for a sail, and when night came he curled down in his
bunk so snugly, that it seemed at times as if things were going on as
usual before the mutiny. When he looked out in the morning at daylight
the first object he saw was the yawl.
At first he thought it might be the second boat which had been loosened
somehow during the fierce battle on deck. But when Ralph rose and
looked around, the mate recognized the lad and waved his handkerchief.
He was not a little astonished at the boy's re-appearance, having heard
the shot which wounded Ralph, and having given both lad and yawl up for
lost.
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