nright, cruel earnest.

Once Jose rose and walked to the vessel's side, but, returning shortly,
lay face downward on the deck.

"I must shut out the sight of the sea," he said, "or I shall go mad.
What an awful thing to perish of thirst with water everywhere around
us!"

This was our second night of horror, but very different in its nature
from the first. Then, for long hours, we went in fear of the storm;
now, we would have welcomed the most terrible tempest that ever blew,
if only it brought us rain.

Very slowly the night crept by, and again we were confronted by the
gray haze, with its curious blood-red tint. We could not escape from
the vessel, as our boats had been smashed in the hurricane; we could
only wait for what might happen in this sea of the dead.

"Rain or death, it is one or the other!" remarked Jose, as, rising to
our feet, we staggered across to the skipper.

Rain or death! Which would come first, I wondered.

The captain could do nothing, though I must say he played his part like
a man--encouraging the crew, foretelling a storm which should rise
later in the day, and asserting that we were right in the track of
ships. We had only to hold on patiently, he said, and all would come
right.

Jose also spoke to the me cheerfully, trying to keep alive a glimmer of
hope; but as the morning hours dragged wearily along, they were fain to
give way to utter despair. No ships could reach us, they said, while
the calm lasted, and not the slightest sign of change could be seen.
Our throats were parched, our lips cracked, our eyes bloodshot and
staring. One of the crew, a plump, chubby, round-faced man, began
talking aloud in a rambling manner, and presently, with a scream of
excitement, he sprang into the rigging.

"Sail ho!" he cried, "sail ho!" and forgetting our weakness, we all
jumped up to peer eagerly through the gauzy mist.

"Where away?" exclaimed the captain.

The sailor laughed in glee. "Oho! Here she comes!" cried he; "here
she comes!" and, tearing off his shirt, waved it frantically.

The action was so natural, the man seemed so much in earnest, that we
hung over the schooner's side, anxiously scanning the horizon for our
rescuer. Again the fellow shouted, "Here she comes!" and then, with a
frenzied laugh, flung himself into the glassy sea.

A groan of despair burst from the crew, and for several seconds no one
moved. Then Jose, crying, "Throw me a rope!" jumped overboard, and