Part 9 (1/2)

”'That settles poor Hobbs' hash, anyhow!'

”'How d'ye ry-like

”'Why,' says the et better, and that shark knows it He's just waitin' for him!'

”'Oh, nonsense,' says the skipper; 'I'ent s'

”And he oes into the second ettin' on About twenty ain, and tells the ot the yaller fever And, mates, I takes notice that the skipper weren't just then lookin' so extra well hisself About a hour a'terwards he goes below again; and by and by the steward cohtened, I can tell ye, and says as the skipper is sick, too

”'I wonder whether there's a shark come for him, as well as for the second mate,' says one of the men, jokin' like 'Run aft, steward,'

says he, 'and look over the taffrail, and see'

”The steward did as he was told; and presently he cohost; and:--

”'There's two of 'eh, shi+pmates, ent aft and had a look for ourselves, there o sharks just playin'

about under the starn, scullin' here and there, lazy-like, but never goin' very far away

”I told the mate of this, and p'inted out the brutes to hihed and said:--

”'Then the skipper's goose is cooked, too; and I shall have to take charge of the shi+p myself!'

”And, as he said it, mates, you may believe me or not, as you like, but up comes a third shark, and jines company with the two that was standin'

off and on

”'Hillo!' says the h; 'what's the meanin' of this here, I wonder? Three of 'em,' he says; 'one for Hobbs, and one for the cap'n: but who's the third one a'ter?'

”Mates, what I'oin' to tell you is as true as that I'm sittin' here on this here thwart: the ht; and the next day he follered poor Mr Hobbs and the skipper over the rail; and then the three sharks left us And a week later the brig went ashore on the coast, about the ht as ever you see, and ed to reach the sand-hills alive”

This weird story, told with all the i the truth--emphasised as it was by the persistent presence of those two remorseless brutes under our own stern,--affected the listeners powerfully; and at its close there was not one of us, I will venture to say, but was firmly convinced that at least two of our party were doo to the eastward until nearlyeach other at the oars at short intervals, when, suddenly, one of thecry, rolled off his thwart and fell prone into the bottom of the boat

His place was immediately taken by another; but within a quarter of an hour this ive up; and so, one after the other, they all succumbed, until only Du at the oars five ood, _astados', as the Spaniards say; I aered heavily aft, and sank down in the stern-sheets with a groan and a gasping cry of:

”Water! water! For the love of God give me a mouthful of water, or I shall die!”

The poor fellow had, of course, been receiving the same allowance as the rest of us; and the s in the bottom of our breaker was of such priceless value that I could not give hirievous injustice and injury upon the rest; nevertheless, I could not sit there and see hi to the men as well as ohis head, I poured it into hishim every drop, I ah to just ue; but, such as it was, it seeratefully, he settled himself more comfortably on the thwart, and presently appeared to sink into a state of semi- unconsciousness that perhaps partially served in place of sleep

I would gladly have followed his example if I could, but it was impossible My stubborn constitution seeer and thirst; but e to portray; er was so intense that I believe I could have eaten and enjoyed any food, however revolting, could I but have obtained it; whilethat it ith the utmost difficulty I combated the te tongue and throat with my own blood Equally difficult was it to resist the teht of the salt-water that lapped so tantalisingly against the sides of the boat, and shi+ht all around me; but I knehat the consequences of such an act would be, and, by the resolute exercise of all the will power re Yet so excruciating wasto alleviate it, even though the alleviation were to be of the briefest I therefore deter, I plunged the garside, until they were saturated; when I donned the skin see thirst; and, encouraged by this small measure of success, I next cut a strip of leather fro this into small pieces, I placed the the them It will, perhaps, convey to the reader soer when I say that I actually enjoyed these pieces of leather, and that ree appeased by them, to an extent sufficient, indeed, to enable me to lie down and actually fall asleep

I re and drinking, of a profusion of appetising viands and choice wines spread upon long tables that stood under the welcoeous trees and close to the borders of sparkling streams of sweet, crystal-clear water; and when I awoke the sun was again rising above the horizon into a sky of fleckless blue reflected by an ocean of glassy calestion of a flaind anywhere upon its ; sounwale of the boat and so raising their bodies that they could look round the back with a ht of the breathless calm and the blank horizon, while others--two or three whose strength still sufficed for the extra effort--painfully raised theer andto be seen, however, in the whole visible stretch of the ocean, save the fins of the two sharks which haunted us so res of despair, and hoarse, broken curses at the ill-fortune which so persistently dogged us, we prepared to devour our last insignificant ration of food and consume the last drops of our hoarded water