d the boat, and were
pulling back towards the brig, now barely discernible as a small, faint,
indistinct dark blot against the blue-black, star-spangled sky, with her
anchor light hoisted to the gaff-end as a guide to the returning rescue
party.

The rescued man proved to be--as Leslie had already guessed from the
fellow's manner of speech--one of the foremast hands of the _Golden
Fleece_. Like Leslie, he had been dragged under when the ship went
down, but in his downward journey had encountered what proved to be a
loose cork fender, to which he had clung desperately. The buoyancy of
the fender was sufficient to immediately check his descent into the
depths, and ultimately to take him back to the surface, where he found
himself close alongside a mass of top-hamper, consisting of the ship's
fore-topmast with all attached, that had torn itself adrift from the
wreck when she went down; and to this he had at once swam, and taken
refuge upon it. He told a pathetic tale of the despair that had seized
him, when, at dawn, he had found himself the sole survivor, as he
supposed, of the catastrophe; and of the alternations of hope and
despair that had been his throughout the day when the brig appeared in
sight, drifted up to within three short miles of him, and there lay
becalmed. The most distressing part of his experience, perhaps,
consisted in the fact that, although an excellent swimmer, and quite
capable of covering the distance between himself and the brig, he had
found himself beset by a school of sharks, and therefore dared not
forsake the refuge of the wreckage, and take to the water.

Upon the return of the boat to the brig, Leslie learned from the mate
that Potter was still in his bunk, and that the dazed feeling resulting
from the blow that he had sustained when thrown against the rail still
seemed to be as acute as ever. Purchas, indeed, seemed to be growing
rather anxious about him; and eagerly inquired of Leslie whether the
latter happened to know anything about medicine; as he thought the time
had arrived when something ought to be done to help the man back to his
senses. Medicine, however, was a branch of science about which Leslie
happened to know little or nothing; but he readily acceded to Purchas's
suggestion that he should have a look at the patient; and accordingly--
although by this time a substantial meal was set out upon the brig's
cabin table, and the ex-lieutenant felt himself quite prepared to d