"
The sailors, taken aback by his suggestion, stared at him with
amazement.
"There are ten of you," he went on. "My two arms will give you
each a meal; cut them off for to-day, and to-morrow you shall
have the rest of me."
"Agreed!" cried Dowlas; and as M. Letourneur held out his bare
arms, quick as lightning the carpenter raised his hatchet.
Curtis and I could bear this scene no longer; whilst we were
alive to prevent it, this butchery should not be permitted, and
we rushed forwards simultaneously to snatch the victim from his
murderers. A furious struggle ensued, and in the midst of the
MELEE I was seized by one of the sailors, and hurled violently
into the sea.
Closing my lips, I tried to die of suffocation in the water; but
in spite of myself, my mouth opened, and a few drops trickled
down my throat.
Merciful Heaven! the water was fresh!
CHAPTER LVI.
JANUARY 27th CONTINUED.--A change came over me as if by miracle.
No longer had I any wish to die, and already Curtis, who had
heard my cries, was throwing me a rope. I seized it eagerly, and
was hauled up on to the raft, "Fresh water!" were the first
words I uttered.
"Fresh water?" cried Curtis, "why then, my friends, we are not
far from land!"
It was not too late; the blow had not been struck, and so the
victim had not yet fallen. Curtis and Andre (who had regained
his liberty) had fought with the cannibals, and it was just as
they were yielding to overpowering numbers that my voice had made
itself heard.
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