He was the more easily induced to this resolve, as my slumber appeared to be of the most tranquil nature, and he could not suppose that I had undergone any inconvenience from my incarceration.

He had just made up his mind on these points when his attention was arrested by an unusual bustle, the sound of which proceeded apparently from the cabin.

He sprang through the trap as quickly as possible, closed it, and threw open the door of his stateroom.

No sooner had he put his foot over the threshold than a pistol flashed in his face, and he was knocked down, at the same moment, by a blow from a handspike.
A strong hand held him on the cabin floor, with a tight grasp upon his throat; still he was able to see what was going on around him.
His father was tied hand and foot, and lying along the steps of the companion-way, with his head down, and a deep wound in the forehead, from which the blood was flowing in a continued stream.

He spoke not a word, and was apparently dying.