Then, saying to himself, "It is time," he knocked the beams from their ledges, allowed the square of wood to fall, lifted the hatch, and pushed it off its combing, and then clambered on to the deck with the corks and ropes.

There were some fifty persons on board, for the most part women and children, but with two or three men among them.

They were gathered near the stern, and were apparently watching the scene ashore with astonishment.

He hurried aft, having no fear that at this distance from the shore his figure would be recognized from the rest, and, if it were, it mattered not.

Two or three turned round as the supposed sailor came aft, exclaiming: "What does this mean?
Why are we put here on board these white ships?
What are they going to do with us ?" "Alas, ladies," he said, "they have put you here to die; they have bored holes in the ships' bottoms, and in a few minutes they will sink.