ave 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 Jynxstrop 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 look