CHAPTER TWENTY.
HOW THEY FELL IN WITH GREATER PERIL.
The peril was still great, and there was the risk that at any moment another inadvertent movement on the part of the boat, such as that made by Mr Gregory in his ignorance of the side on which the enemy lay, might result in discovery, for the sea glowed in the intense light shed by the burning vessel, and the faces of all in the gig stood out so plainly that it seemed to be only a question of moments before they were seen.
But the mate carefully manoeuvred his steering oar; the men pulled a slow, silent, and steady stroke; and fortunately for all, the Malays were so intent upon the fire that they did not alter the positions of their vessels.
For a very short time the boat was in the black shadow cast by the stern; then they were floating as it were on golden waters; and the same feeling animated every breast, though it remained an unspoken thought: This is all in vain; we must be seen and brought back.
"A little more room there; sit close; move steadily," said the first-mate hoarsely.

"Now two more oars." These were laid in the rowlocks silently, and with four men pulling in place of two the heavily-laden boat made more rapid progress, so that before long there was a space of several hundred yards between the fugitives and the flaming ship, and they could look at the two praus lying a short distance away without so much fear of being seen.
"Steady, my lads! pull!" said the mate, whose was the only face turned from the ship, and as he stood in the stern his shadow was cast upon the water.
"Were you hurt, father ?" said Mark.
"No, my lad, not much," said the captain.

"The explosion struck us both down.

That was all." Nothing more was said, for everyone was too much intent upon the sight before them, one which was grand in the extreme, and lit up the ocean far and wide.

The main and fore-masts were blazing right to the very trucks, and as the fugitives watched the mizzen-mast caught, and they could see the flames leap from spar to spar, running along ropes with quite a rapid motion, while great burning drops seemed to keep falling toward the deck.