g to his fellow-
passengers, who, with himself, had heard the short history of the
tragedy. "That must, undoubtedly, have been the identical shark we saw.
Being in the water he, of course, heard the plunge of the unfortunate
man before the sound reached our ears, and at once made off, as we saw,
in that direction. How little we dreamed of the fatal errand on which
he was bound as we watched him disappear! Truly, `in the midst of life
we are in death.'"

Shortly before noon a black, heavy, thunderous-looking cloud worked up
from the southward, and, when immediately over the ship, burst with a
tremendous downpour of rain, but with no wind. Seeing that the fall was
likely to be heavy, Captain Blyth ordered a couple of studding-sails to
be opened out and spread to catch the water as it fell, and so copious
was the shower that not only did they succeed in completely refilling
all the tanks, but, by plugging up the scupper-holes the men were
actually enabled to enjoy the unwonted luxury of a thorough personal
cleansing in the warm soft water, and also to wash a change of clothing.
The ladies and children, had, of course, been driven below by the heavy
downpour; but they were not forgotten, Messrs. Henderson and Gaunt
taking care to promptly secure a sufficiency of water to afford each of
them the treat of a copious fresh-water bath.

Between sunrise and sunset that day, the _Flying Cloud_ contrived to
make nearly eight miles of southing, and a small slant of wind during
the night enabled her to make about fourteen more. When morning dawned
they were again becalmed; but the sky was overcast, and it was evident
that a heavy thunder-squall was working up from the eastward, and
Captain Blyth was in hopes that when it came it would do them good
service. He was on deck at daylight, eager to see if he could discover
any traces of the _Southern Cross_; and great was his jubilation when,
after a most careful scanning of the horizon from the main-topgallant-
yard, he failed to detect anything at all like her in sight.

By breakfast-time the aspect of the sky was so threatening that Captain
Blyth gave instructions to have all the lighter canvas taken in, leaving
the ship under topsails, courses, fore-topmast staysail, jib, and mizen.
It was well that he took this precaution, for just as they sat down to
breakfast it began to thunder and lighten heavily, and about ten minutes
later, a terrific downpour of rain followed. The rain