and lying down in the two larboard
berths in the cabin, were fast asleep in a few seconds.

People talk of sleeping like tops. A hard-worked ship-boy will beat any
top in the world at sleeping soundly.

For a second night the brig lay becalmed. I doubt that if even a fierce
gale had sprung up it would have awakened us. The sun was shining when
I opened my eyes. It might have been shining for hours for what I could
tell.

I roused up Jim, and we sprang on deck, vexed at having, as we supposed,
lost so much precious time. By the height of the sun above the horizon,
however, we judged that it was not so late as we had at first fancied.
The clock in the cabin had been unshipped when the brig went over, and
the captain's watch had stopped, so that we had otherwise no means of
knowing how the hours passed by. It was still perfectly calm. We
looked round in all directions. Not a sail was in sight.

"We must get ready for the breeze, Jim, when it does spring up," I said.
"It will come before many hours are over, I've a notion."

I had observed some light clouds just under the sun.

"May be; but we must take a spell at the pumps first," he answered--his
first thought was always of them.

We turned to as before, till our arms ached, and then we ran down and
got some breakfast. We knew the value of time, but we couldn't get on
without eating, any more than other people.

On returning to the deck we lowered the lanterns, which had long since
gone out, finished bending the sails, fitting braces, tacks, sheets, and
bowlines, and were then ready to hoist away. We at once set all the
sails we had ready, to see how they stood. To our satisfaction, they
appeared to greater advantage than we had expected.

"They'll do!" cried Jim, as we surveyed them; "only let us get a breeze
from the right quarter, and we'll soon make the land."

Fortunately, the rudder had been uninjured when the brig went over, and
the wheel was in order. I stood at the helm, longing for the time when
I should see the brig moving through the water. I may say, once for
all, that at very frequent intervals Jim and I went to the pumps, but he
stood longer at the work than I did. There was urgent necessity for our
doing so, as, notwithstanding all our exertions, we had but slightly
diminished the water in the hold.

When not thus occupied we did various things that were necessary about
the brig; among others we got life-lines round the shattered