te attention, and he
readily assented to Purchas's urgent solicitation that he should take
another look at the patient, and say what he thought of his condition.
Upon descending to the stuffy little cabin he found that, as the mate
had reported, there was no marked change in Potter's condition; he still
lay, as before, without movement, his unseeing eyes upturned, and
apparently quite unconscious of the presence of the two men who bent
over him. The only difference noticeable to Leslie was that the man's
breathing seemed to be somewhat stertorous.

"Well, what d'ye think of him?" anxiously demanded Purchas, when at
length Leslie raised himself from his examination.

"To be quite candid with you, Purchas," answered Leslie, "I scarcely
know what to think; but I am afraid the man's condition is somewhat more
serious than I thought it to be when I last visited him. I must confess
that I do not like this long spell of wakefulness combined with
unconsciousness of his surroundings. What is actually wrong I am sorry
that I cannot say, but the symptoms appear to me to point to an injury
of the brain. You have a medicine-chest on board, I suppose?"

"Oh yes," answered Purchas. "It is in the skipper's cabin."

"Um!" remarked Leslie. "That is awkward. We cannot very well gain
access to it just now without disturbing Miss Trevor; and I do not think
that the case is urgent enough to demand that we should do that. But
to-morrow morning, as soon as the young lady is out of her cabin, we
will get that medicine-chest and overhaul the book of directions that I
have no doubt we shall find in it; and perhaps we shall discover a
description of symptoms somewhat similar to those exhibited by your
skipper. And, if so, we will try the remedies recommended. Now I would
advise you to turn in; and don't worry about the skipper, for I have no
doubt that we shall be able to pull him round all right. And perhaps
this will be a lesson to him to keep his temper under somewhat better
control."

"Well, I'm sure I hope it will," answered Purchas. "If it does that, I
shan't be sorry that this has happened; for I can tell you, Mr Leslie,
that when the `old man' gets his back up, as he did this afternoon,
things grow pretty excitin' aboard this hooker. Well, good night; and
if anything happens atween this and eight bells, you might give me a
call--not but what I expect you're a far better sailor-man than what I
am."

"Oh, that's all right