ON THE HIGH SEAS Again did that awe-inspiring wand of light describe a great arc in the sky.

But it was plain to be seen that it sprang from an altered base.
The warship was in motion.

She was about to steam around the group of islands.
Boat and catamaran raced at once for the launch; a Babel of strange oaths jarred the brooding silence; alarm, almost panic, stirred men's hearts and bubbled forth in wild speech.

Under pressure of this new peril the instinct of self-preservation burst the bonds of discipline.
The first law of nature may be disregarded by heroes, but the _Andromeda's_ crew were just common sailormen, who did not know when they were heroic and did not care if they were deemed bestial.

It may be urged that they had suffered much.