Chapter 33

CHAPTER XXXIII.

DECEMBER 18th to 20th.--On the 18th the wind freshened a little,
but as it blew from the same favourable quarter we did not
complain, and only took the precaution of putting an extra
support to the mast, so that it should not snap with the tension
of the sail.  This done, the raft was carried along with
something more than its ordinary speed, and left a long line of
foam in its wake.

In the afternoon the sky became slightly overclouded, and the
heat consequently somewhat less oppressive.  The swell made it
more difficult for the raft to keep its balance, and we shipped
two or three heavy seas; but the carpenter managed to make with
some planks a kind of wall about a couple of feet high, which
protected us from the direct action of the waves.  Our casks of
food and water were secured to the raft with double ropes, for we
dared not run the risk of their being carried overboard, an
accident that would at once have reduced us to the direst
distress.

In the course of the day the sailors gathered some of the marine
plants known by the name of sargassos, very similar to those we
saw in such profusion between the Bermudas and Ham Rock.  I
advised my companions to chew the laminary tangles, which they
would find contained a saccharine juice, affording considerable
relief to their parched lips and throats.

The remainder of the day passed without incident.  I should not,
however, omit to mention that the frequent conferences held
amongst the sailors, especially between Owen, Burke, Flaypole,
Wilson, and Jynxtrop, the negro, aroused some uneasy suspicions
in my mind.  What was the subject of their conversation I could
not discover, for they became silent immediately that a passenger
or one of the officers approached them.  When I mentioned the
matter to Curtis I found he had already noticed these secret
interviews, and that they had given him enough concern to make
him determined to keep a strict eye upon Jynxtrop and Owen, who,
rascals as they were themselves, were evidently trying to
disaffect their mates.

On the 19th the heat was again excessive.  The sky was cloudless,
and as there was not enough wind to fill the sail the raft lay
motionless upon the surface of the water.  Some of the sailors
found a transient alleviation for their thirst by plunging into
the sea, but as we were fully aware that the water all round was
infested with sharks, none of us was rash enough to follow their
example, though if, as seems likely, we remain long becalmed, we
shall probably in time overcome our fears, and feel constrained
to indulge ourselves with a bath.

The health of Lieutenant Walter continues to cause us grave
anxiety, the young man being weakened by attacks of intermittent
fever.  Except for the loss of the medicine-chest we might have
temporarily reduced this by quinine; but it is only too evident
that the poor fellow is consumptive, and that that hopeless
malady is making ravages upon him that no medicine could
permanently arrest.  His sharp dry cough, his short breathing,
his profuse perspirations, more especially in the morning; the
pinched-in nose, the hollow cheeks, of which the general pallour
is only relieved by a hectic flush, the contracted lips, the too
brilliant eye and wasted form--all bear witness to a slow but
sure decay.

To-day, the 20th, the temperature is as high as ever, and the
raft still motionless.  The rays of the sun penetrate even
through the shelter of our tent, where we sit literally gasping
with the heat.  The impatience with which we awaited the moment
when the boatswain should dole out our meagre allowance of water,
and the eagerness with which those lukewarm drops were swallowed,
can only be realized by those who for themselves have endured the
agonies of thirst.

Lieutenant Walter suffers more than any of us from the scarcity
of water, and I noticed that Miss Herbey reserved almost the
whole of her own share for his use.  Kind and compassionate as
ever, the young girl does all that lies in her power to relieve
the poor fellow's sufferings.

"Mr. Kazallon," she said to me this morning, "that young man gets
manifestly weaker every day."

"Yes, Miss Herbey," I replied, "and how sorrowful it is that we
can do nothing for him, absolutely nothing."

"Hush!"  she said, with her wonted consideration, "perhaps he
will hear what we are saying."

And then she sat down near the edge of the raft, where, with her
head resting on her hands, she remained lost in thought.

An incident sufficiently unpleasant occurred to-day.  For nearly
an hour Owen, Flaypole, Burke, and Jynxtrop had been engaged in
close conversation and, although their voices were low, their
gestures had betrayed that they were animated by some strong
excitement.  At the conclusion of the colloquy Owen got up and
walked deliberately to the quarter of the raft that has been
reserved for the use of the passengers.

"Where are you off to now, Owen?"  said the boatswain.

"That's my business," said the man insolently, and pursued his
course.

The boatswain was about to stop him, but before he could
interfere Curtis was standing and looking Owen steadily in the
face.

"Ah, captain, I've got a word from my mates to say to you," he
said, with all the effrontery imaginable.

"Say on, then," said the captain coolly.

"We should like to know about that little keg of brandy.  Is it
being kept for the porpoises or the officers?"

Finding that he obtained no reply, he went on,--

"Look here, captain, what we want is to have our grog served out
every morning as usual."

"Then you certainly will not," said the captain.

"What!  what!"  exclaimed Owen, "don't you mean to let us have
our grog?"

"Once and for all, no."

For a moment, with a malicious grin upon his lips, Owen stood
confronting the captain; then, as though thinking better of
himself, he turned round and rejoined his companions, who were
still talking together in an undertone.

When I was afterwards discussing the matter with Curtis I asked
him whether he was sure he had done right in refusing the brandy.

"Right!"  he cried, "to be sure I have.  Allow those men to have
brandy!  I would throw it all overboard first."