drift to leeward; while to actually force his
unwieldy raft to windward and thus reach the desired _flotsam_, was
quite beyond his unaided powers.

He had just rather ruefully arrived at this unwelcome conclusion when,
clambering up on the raft to take a good look round, as the structure
rose heavily upon the back of a swell he suddenly sighted, away in the
northern board, a tiny speck of creamy white, gleaming softly out
against the warm delicate grey tones of the sky low down in that
quarter. It was but a momentary glimpse, for he had no sooner caught it
than the raft settled down into the trough, while a low hill of
turquoise blue water swelled up in front of him, hiding the horizon and
the object upon which his eager gaze had been so intently fixed. Then
the raft was once more hove up, and Leslie again caught sight of the
object, which this time remained in view for a space of perhaps six
seconds; and brief though this period may seem, it was sufficient to
enable his practised seaman's eye to determine the fact that what he saw
was the head of the royal of a ship steering to the southward.

So anxiously did Leslie await the next reappearance of the tiny object,
and so tense was his attitude of expectation, that it attracted the
notice of his companion, who was fast sinking into a state of torpor
from exhaustion. She raised herself painfully into a sitting attitude
and, in weak and somewhat fretful tones, inquired:--

"What is it, Mr Leslie; do you see anything?"

"Yes," answered Leslie, still anxiously watching; "there is a vessel of
some sort away out there; and she is steering this way. What I am
anxious to determine, if I can, is whether she is likely to pass close
enough to us to enable us to attract her attention."

"Oh, I pray Heaven that it may be so!" ejaculated Miss Trevor,
brightening up perceptibly at the prospect of possible rescue. "Is
there nothing that we can do to insure that she shall see us? You say
that you are a sailor, and I have been told that sailors are amazingly
ingenious creatures, surely you can think of something, some act that
would better our position!" She spoke querulously, with an undertone of
the old disdain that formerly marked her manner running through her
speech.

"A man can do but little with only his two hands and no tools to help
him," answered Leslie, gently; "yet you may rely upon my doing all that
is possible under such disadvantageous conditions. From the p