or him a portion of her own insufficient
allowance, obtained from the captain a small extra supply of water, with
which every quarter of an hour she moistened the parched lips of the
young man, who almost too weak to speak, could only express his thanks
by a grateful smile. Poor fellow! all our care cannot avail to save him
now; he is doomed, most surely doomed to die.

On the 23rd he seemed to be conscious of his condition, for he made
a sign to me to sit down by his side, and then summoning up all his
strength to speak, he asked me in a few broken words how long I
thought he had to live? Slight as my hesitation was, Walter noticed it
immediately.

"The truth," he said; "tell me the plain truth."

"My dear fellow, I am not a doctor, you know," I began, "and I can
scarcely judge--"

"Never mind," he interrupted, "tell me just what you think."

I looked at him attentively for some moments, then laid my ear against
his chest. In the last few days his malady had made fearfully rapid
strides, and it was only too evident that one lung had already ceased
to act, whilst the other was scarcely capable of performing the work of
respiration. The young man was now suffering from the fever which is the
sure symptom of the approaching end in all tuberculous complaints.

The lieutenant kept his eye fixed upon me with a look of eager inquiry.
I knew not what to say, and sought to evade his question.

"My dear boy," I said, "in our present circumstances not one of us can
tell how long he has to live. Not one of us knows what may happen in the
course of the next eight days."

"The next eight days," he murmured, as he looked eagerly into my face.

And then, turning away his head, he seemed to fall into a sort of doze.

The 24th, 25th, and 26th passed without any alteration in our
circumstances, and strange, nay, incredible as it may sound, we began to
get accustomed to our condition of starvation. Often, when reading the
histories of shipwrecks, I have suspected the accounts to be greatly
exaggerated; but now I fully realize their truth, and marvel when I find
on how little nutriment it is possible to exist for so long a time. To
our daily half-pound of biscuit the captain has thought to add a few
drops of brandy, and the stimulant helps considerably to sustain our
strength. If we had the same provisions for two months, or even for one,
there might be room for hope; but our supplies diminish rapidly, and the
time is fast appro