Part 26 (1/2)
Clayton scanned the water in every direction
”Where can they be?” he cried ”They cannot have gone down, for there has been no sea, and they were afloat after the yacht sank--I saw them all”
He awoke the other ht
”It is just as well that the boats are scattered, sir,” said one of the sailors ”They are all provisioned, so that they do not need each other on that score, and should a storm blow up they could be of no service to one another even if they were together, but scattered about the ocean there is a much better chance that one at least will be picked up, and then a search will be at once started for the others
Were we together there would be but one chance of rescue, where now there may be four”
They saw the wisdom of his philosophy, and were cheered by it, but their joy was short-lived, for when it was decided that they should row steadily toward the east and the continent, it was discovered that the sailors who had been at the only two oars hich the boat had been provided had fallen asleep at their work, and allowed both to slip into the sea, nor were they in sight anywhere upon the water
During the angry words and recriminations which followed the sailors nearly cah a moment later Monsieur Thuran al a nasty relish sailors
”Come, come, mates,” spoke up one of the men, Tompkins, who had taken no part in the altercation, ”shootin' off our blooet us nothin' As Spider 'ere said afore, we'll all bloody well be picked up, anyway, sez 'e, so wot's the use o' squabblin'? Let's eat, sez I”
”That's not a bad idea,” said Monsieur Thuran, and then, turning to the third sailor, Wilson, he said: ”Pass one of those tins aft, ood man”
”Fetch it yerself,” retorted Wilson sullenly ”I ain't a-takin' no orders from no--furriner--you ain't captain o' this shi+p yet”
The result was that Clayton hiry altercation ensued when one of the sailors accused Clayton and Monsieur Thuran of conspiring to control the provisions so that they could have the lion's share
”Some one should take cousted with the disgraceful wrangling that had ht last for h to be alone in a frail boat on the Atlantic, without having the addedthe members of our party You men should elect a leader, and then abide by his decisions in all reater need for strict discipline here than there is upon a well-ordered shi+p”
She had hoped before she voiced her sentiments that it would not be necessary for her to enter into the transaction at all, for she believed that Clayton was aency, but she had to adreater pro the situation than any of the others, though he had at least refrained fro so far as to give up the tin to the sailors when they objected to its being opened by hiirl's words temporarily quieted the s of water and the four tins of food should be divided into two parts, one-half going forward to the three sailors to do with as they saw best, and the balance aft to the three passengers
Thus was the little company divided into two camps, and when the provisions had been apportioned each immediately set to work to open and distribute food and water The sailors were the first to get one of the tins of ”food” open, and their curses of rage and disappointht be
”Trouble!” shrieked Spider ”Trouble! It's worse than trouble--it's death! This---tin is full of coal oil!”
Hastily now Clayton and Monsieur Thuran tore open one of theirs, only to learn the hideous truth that it also contained, not food, but coal oil One after another the four tins on board were opened And as the contents of each becarim truth--there was not an ounce of food upon the boat
”Well, thank Gawd it wasn't the water,” cried Tho without food than it is without water We can eat our shoes if worse comes to worst, but we couldn't drink 'e a hole in one of the water kegs, and as Spider held a tin cup he tilted the keg to pour a draft of the precious fluid A thin streah the tiny aperture into the botto, and sat staring at the dry stuff in the cup, speechless with horror
”The kegs are filled with gunpowder,” said Spider, in a low tone, turning to those aft And so it proved when the last had been opened
”Coal oil and gunpowder!” cried Monsieur Thuran ”SAPRISTI! What a diet for shi+pwrecked e that there was neither food nor water on board, the pangs of hunger and thirst becaravated, and so on the first day of their tragic adventure real suffering corim earnest, and the full horrors of shi+pwreck were upon them
As the days passed conditions becaht until the weak and weary watchers would sink exhausted to the bottom of the boat, and there wrest in dream-disturbed slu reality
The sailors, goaded by the reer, had eaten their leather belts, their shoes, the sweatbands froh both Clayton and Monsieur Thuran had done their best to convince the they were enduring
Weak and hopeless, the entire party lay beneath the pitiless tropic sun, with parched lips and swollen tongues, waiting for the death they were beginning to crave The intense suffering of the first few days had beco, but the agony of the sailors was pitiful, as their weak and impoverished stomachs attempted to cope with the bits of leather hich they had filled them Tompkins was the first to succumb Just a week from the day the LADY ALICE went down the sailor died horribly in frightful convulsions