t as well drown
first as last. It was a dangerous example, but the skipper checked the
mischief. Running forward with loaded pistol, he shouted,--

"Go back to the pumps, you coward, or I will shoot you down like a dog!
Call yourself a man? Why, that youngster there is worth fifty of you!"

The fellow returned to his work; but as the hours passed we became more
and more certain that no amount of pumping would save the ship. Even
now she was but a floating wreck, and soon she would be engulfed by the
raging sea.

While Jose and I were taking a rest, the captain told us that, even
should the storm cease, the _Aguila_ must go down in less than
twenty-four hours, and that he knew not whether we were close to the
shore or a hundred leagues from it. Jose received the news coolly. He
came of a race that does not believe in whimpering, and his only care
was on my account.

"I am sorry for your mother, Jack," said he, "and for you too. We're
in a fair hole, and I don't see any way of getting out; but for all
that we will keep our heads cool. Never go under without a fight for
it--that's as good a motto as any other. You heard the skipper say the
schooner is bound to go down, and you know we have no boats--they
wouldn't be any good if we had, while this storm lasts; but if the sea
calms, a plank will keep you afloat a long time, and maybe a ship will
come along handy. Anyhow, make a fight for it, my boy. Now we'll have
a snack of something to eat, and then for another spell at the pumps."

By this time a feeling of despair had seized the crew, and but for fear
of the captain's pistol they would have stopped work in a body.
However, he kept them at it, and towards noon the tempest ceased almost
as suddenly as it had begun. The gale dropped to a steady breeze, and
the surface of the ocean became comparatively calm.

The change cheered us; we looked on it as a good omen, and toiled at
the pumps even harder than before. We could not lessen the quantity of
water, but for a time we kept it from gaining, and a germ of hope crept
back into our hearts. Every hour now was likely to be in our favour,
as the captain judged the wind was blowing us to some part of the
coast, where we might either fall in with a vessel or effect a landing.
Thus, between hope and fear, the afternoon passed, and then we saw that
the captain's judgment was correct.

Straight before us, though far off as yet, appeared the dark line of
coast wi