the ship's counter he saw that she was named the
_Mermaid_, and that she hailed from the port of Bristol.

That portion of the deck which formed the floor of the cabin had been
covered with oilcloth; and this oilcloth still remained in place,
securely nailed down to the planking. Looking about him Gaunt had no
difficulty in discovering the locality of the hatch leading down to the
lazarette, which, like the rest of the cabin flooring, was covered with
oilcloth, on folding back which he noticed, with satisfaction, that the
sea had been prevented from penetrating into the interior. Raising the
hatch he descended, and found, as he expected, that the place was well
packed with the usual stores supplied to such a ship when bound upon a
long voyage. He opened a few of the cases at haphazard and extracted
from one a bottle of port wine, and from another a tin of preserved
soup; he also found several casks of ship's bread, from one of which he
filled his pockets. With this booty he returned to the deck and
deposited it on the carpenter's tool-chest. He next turned his
attention to the hatches. These were all securely battened down; and he
noticed with great satisfaction that the tarpaulins which covered them
were quite uninjured, and to all appearance perfectly watertight. He
was about to break open the main hatchway, but on further consideration
he decided not to do so until he was prepared to hoist out the cargo and
transfer it to the shore, as he well knew that when the tarpaulin was
removed he would be unable to properly secure it in its place again
without assistance.

His preliminary examination of the wreck was now completed, and the
position of the sun warned him that it was high time for him to see
about returning to the shore. He met with a great deal of trouble in
lowering the heavy tool-chest down the ship's side and safely depositing
it on his flimsy raft; but so much value did he attach to its possession
that he determined not to leave the wreck without it. And he eventually
succeeded, though not until the sun was within half an hour of setting.
This task successfully accomplished, and the fishing-line, bread, wine,
and tin of soup placed in security on the top of the chest, he cast off
and cautiously pulled away to the shore, which he safely reached just as
the sun's upper rim was disappearing below the horizon.

He was by this time desperately hungry, and the first thing to which he
devoted himself wa