, seemed to say to us grimly, "You sha'n't escape
me here, at all events!"

"Oh, Captain Miles!" I cried. "The sharks are going to wait until we
drop off into the sea one by one, and then they will eat us all!"

"Not a bit of it, my boy," said he hopefully, to cheer me up. "They'll
soon be tired out and will then swim away and leave us to see about
righting the ship. Don't think of them, Tom; they can't touch any of us
where we are."

"But how long can we stop like this?" I asked despairingly.

"Long enough to bother the sharks," he replied. "They haven't pluck
enough to wait when they see they've got no chance; for, they're born
cowards at heart, as all sneaking things are!"

Jake also sidled up to me at the same time and somewhat restored my
equanimity, saying in his light-hearted way, "Golly, Mass' Tom, we kill
um all first wid um knife 'fore dey touch you!"

The afternoon waned on; so, as the sharks exhibited no signs of yet
leaving us, and the evening was closing in, Captain Miles ordered the
men to lash themselves again to the rigging for fear of their tumbling
off in the night and so falling a prey to the brutes--otherwise, there
was no great need of the precaution, for the sea was almost now calm,
the waves having quite ceased to break. Only a heavy swell lifted the
ship up at intervals, letting her roll down again, and swaying gently to
and fro with a gentle rocking motion which would have sent us all to
sleep but for the hunger which now kept us awake with a nasty, gnawing
pain at the pit of our stomachs.

Our thirst was appeased, Jackson having swung himself down to the water-
cask and served out another drink all round shortly after the sharks had
made their appearance, as they could not approach near enough to the
waist of the ship to interfere with his movements, the deck there being
clear of water. But, oh, we did feel hungry!

"I believe I could a'most eat anything now," said Moggridge plaintively,
chewing away at a piece of leather which he had torn off one of his
boots.

"Only hold out and we'll get something soon," replied the captain, who
tried nobly to keep up the spirits of the men. "We've got water, and
that is more than many a poor fellow has had when in as bad a plight as
ours. Let us be thankful for what we have got and for having our lives
spared so far! To-morrow, if the sea be calm, as there is every reason
to hope it will be, we'll probably be able to fetch something ou