he was too weak to stand any longer. He had fought
his fight very nearly to a finish, and his strength was almost gone.
He had perhaps brought his craft five miles nearer to the land than it
was when he set out; but after all what had been the gain? Apparently
there was none, and he would not further torture his aching body with
useless effort.

In the meantime a small schooner, bringing with her a fair wind, was
running rapidly down the coast, not many miles from where our poor lad
so despairingly awaited the coming of night. That he had not seen her
while standing up, was owing to the fact that her sails, instead of
being white, were tanned a dull red, that blended perfectly with the
colour of the distant shore line. A bright-faced, resolute chap,
somewhat younger than Cabot, but of equally sturdy build, held the
tiller, and regarded with evident approval the behaviour of his
speeding craft.

"We'll make it, Dave," he cried, cheerily. "The old 'Sea Bee's' got
the wings of 'em this time."

"Mebbe so," growled the individual addressed, an elderly man who stood
in the companionway, with his head just above the hatch, peering
forward under the swelling sails. "Mebbe so," he repeated, "and mebbe
not. Steam's hard to beat on land or water, an' we be a far cry from
Pretty Harbour yet. So fur that ef they're started they'll overhaul us
before day, and beat us in by a good twelve hour. It's what I'm
looking fur."

"Oh, pshaw!" replied the young skipper. "What a gammy old croaker you
are. They won't start to-day, anyhow. But here, take her a minute,
while I go aloft for one more look before sundown to make sure."

As the man complied with this request, and waddling aft took the
tiller, his more active companion sprang into the main rigging and ran
rapidly to the masthead, from which point of vantage he gazed back for
a full minute over the course they had come.

"Not a sign," he shouted down at length. "But hello," he added to
himself, "what's that?" With a glance seaward his keen eye had
detected a distant floating object that was momentarily uplifted on the
back of a long swell, and flashed white in the rays of the setting sun.

"Luff her, David! Hard down with your hellum, and trim in all," he
shouted to the steersman. "There, steady, so."

"Wot's hup?" inquired the man a few minutes later, as the other
rejoined him on deck.

"Don't know for sure; but there's something floating off there that
loo