tle Bessy, and would have again risked his young
life, if necessary, for the sake of preserving hers.

The sea continued smooth and the wind fair, and the boats ran swiftly
across the ocean. Twice a-day the cutter came up alongside for her
supply of water. It was a small quantity, little more than sufficient
to moisten the throats of the voyagers after each meal; still they were
thankful to obtain even that. Frequently, as they saw the clouds
gathering in the sky, they longed for rain, that they might obtain a
larger amount of the necessary fluid. Though the rain might wet them to
the skin, and chill their bodies, they could endure anything, they
thought, for the sake of more water.

Willy often dreamed he was on shore, wandering near sparkling cascades
and clear running streams, but that somehow or other he could never
reach the water to obtain a draught. Probably the dreams of others of
the parties were of a similar character.

Day after day passed by; the wind was very light, and the voyage
promised to be longer than Harry had anticipated. The doctor looked
anxiously at his stock of fuel. "I am afraid our boiler won't hold out
much longer," he observed to Willy. "Ask Shafto when he hopes to sight
these Auckland Islands he talks of. We have not passed them, I hope."

"No fear of that," answered Willy. "Shafto says that we are still
nearly two hundred miles from them."

"Two hundred miles!" murmured the doctor. "That is a long distance,
should the wind come foul; but we must keep the pot boiling,--there's no
doubt about that." The following day, the doctor told Shafto that he
thought it would be prudent to reduce the allowance of water. "We can
exist with very little, and though that may be painful, it is far better
than going without it altogether," he remarked.

Several of the people murmured when they received their reduced
allowance; even some of the women declared they must have as much as
they had been accustomed to; and two or three of the seamen and
soldiers, who had hitherto behaved well, exclaimed that they would not
be deprived of their rights. Harry's anxieties were greatly increased.
Mrs Rumbelow, however, came to the rescue.

"What is that you say, men?" she exclaimed. "Are you not able to go
through what these poor ladies--who have been accustomed to gentle
nurture all their lives--endure without complaining? You should be
ashamed of yourselves. I'll soon show the next man I hear