are down among the sharks, who will not go hungry to-
night." Then darkness closed down over Jim's senses, though not before
he had realised that he was a prisoner in the hands of his enemies, the
Peruvians.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

IN THE FACE OF DEATH.

When Jim recovered consciousness, it was to find himself in a small dark
cell, whether on board a ship or on land he could not tell, for there
was no window in his prison, and there was not a particle of that motion
which he knew there would have been had he been at sea; but he presently
came to the conclusion that he must be in one of the "punishment cells"
aboard some ship lying in the harbour, for he thought that, now and
again, he could hear the faint plash and gurgle of water close at hand,
a sound similar to that which he had often heard when down about the
bilges of the _Blanco Encalada_, far below the water-line. He also very
soon realised that, in addition to being in prison, he had chains upon
his legs, and further, that those chains were fastened to a ring, or
staple, set into the wall of the chamber. The poor lad was consumed by
a raging thirst, too; while the wound in his shoulder, inflicted either
by a bullet or a piece of flying shell, was occasioning him very great
pain. If he only had a light, he reflected, things would not be quite
so bad, and he rummaged among his pockets in the endeavour to find a box
of matches which he knew had been in his pocket when he was thrown
overboard off the _Janequeo_. They were in a tin box, so that it was
just possible that the water would not have had time to get to them
during the short period of his immersion; and, in any case, as his
clothing was very nearly dry again, it was more than likely that the
matches would be the same.

After trying several pockets, and discovering that they had already been
gone through, and that all articles of any value, including his watch
and chain, had been taken from him, he found the box for which he was
searching in the hip-pocket of his trousers; and, to his great delight,
the wet had not reached its contents. He therefore struck a light, and
the first thing his eyes rested upon was a large pitcher of water, and a
plate containing a piece of black bread and several slices of pemmican
or dried meat. These had been placed close beside him, and he was
thankful that he had not accidentally capsized the water-jug in the
darkness. He seized and drank at it eagerly, and when