boatman with so great a start; but they had
almost as strong a motive in their endeavour to
do so, as he whom they followed had in
preventing them, and the effort on both sides was
increased by a fact which the mulatto as well
as the murderer became aware of—a ship was
in the offing, sailing on a wind, and evidently
only passing the islands.

"Pull away, my men!" cried Forbes, as if he
were the captain of a man-of-war. "This
dam rascal get away if you don't. I see the
colours of the ship! By golly, the stars and
stripes! Once he get aboard that dam Yankee
clipper we never see him no more. Get along,
you lazy lubbers—pull! pull!"

If the race had been swift before it was
doubly rapid now, but superior power began to
tell, and the pursuing boat drew fast upon the
other. Seven days of half-starvation had greatly
reduced the murderer's strength, while they who
followed were in the full plenitude of health and
vigour. Though Tucker, who saw his danger
as well as his means of escape, exerted every
muscle, he was yet half a mile from the clipper
when the officers' boat was within a quarter of
a mile of his own. Once more he made a desperate
effort, but the space between the rivals
gradually diminished, till only two boats' lengths
remained between them, and little more than a
hundred yards divided the murderer from the
clipper, on the deck of which the crew were
gathered to witness the race. The mulatto
became as pale as if he had been born of white
parents, and shouted with frantic energy; the
boats nearly touched. "Give way! I jump into
him," cried Forbes. He was on the point of
doing so, when Tucker rose from his seat, and,
quick as thought, fired a pistol at the mulatto—
a second which he had reserved for self-defence.
Owing to the unsteadiness of his aim the ball
whistled harmlessly, close to the head of the
mulatto. Throwing away the weapon, and calling
out "Save me!" the murderer leaped into
the sea, and swam towards the clipper. But
the mulatto was in the waves as soon as
himself, and, with the swiftness of the shark, in
three strokes was abreast of his prey, and seized
him by the neck. The murderer grappled him,
and in the struggle they both disappeared, only,
however, to rise again a few moments afterwards,
with Tucker senseless and stretched across the
mulatto's broad breast, while his captor, lying on
his back, and showing his white teeth, grinning
with delight, swam to meet the officers'
boat.

"What has that fellow done?" shouted the
captain of the clipper through his speaking-
trumpet.

"Committed murder," was the reply.

"Lynch him, then!" rejoined the Yankee;
and easing his vessel off a few points, he waved
his hand in token of farewell. The salute was
returned, but the American's advice was not
observed. Tucker revived to learn that a more
legitimate fate awaited him.

I need not dwell on this part of the story.
The murderer was tried at Hamilton, the chief
town in Bermuda, and sentenced to be hung
on the spot where his crime was committed.
It was my duty to superintend the military
arrangements for preserving order when the
sentence was carried out. Capital punishment
was a thing almost unknown in the Bermudas—
at least since the days of the pirates—but there
was no difficulty in finding a hangman. So
much was poor F——beloved by the coloured
people, and so strong was the feeling against
his murderer amongst them, that the office was
volunteered; but to preserve a kind of decency,
while a fantastic notion was gratified, the hangman
wore a mask, a slop dress, and a cocked-
hat and feathers.

This was the first execution I ever witnessed.
It was also the last.

Next Week will be commenced a New Serial Romance,
                                entitled
                     NEVER FORGOTTEN.
         BY THE AUTHOR OF "BELLA DONNA."

              NEW WORK BY MR. DICKENS,
In Monthly Parts, uniform with the Original Editions of
               "Pickwick," "Copperfield," &c.
        Now publishing, PART IV., price 1s., of
                    OUR MUTUAL FRIEND.
                   BY CHARLES DICKENS.
             IN TWENTY MONTHLY PARTS.
        With Illustrations by MARCUS STONE.
  London: CHAPMAN and HALL, 193, Piccadilly.

Just published, bound in green cloth, price 5s. 6d.,
               THE ELEVENTH VOLUME.