second it glistened in the moonlight. In another second it
descended towards the raft, and almost reached it; but not quite; it
came down within five feet of it, and fell like a shot plump into the
ocean. It splashed, and that was all. The Chinaman's head was gone.

A wail went up from the company on the raft at this terrible disaster.
How terrible it really was they did not even yet understand, but they
were soon to learn. Freddie was almost ready to burst into tears. Aunt
Amanda was so exasperated that she could scarcely speak. The others
seemed to be stupefied.

"Oh! oh! oh!" cried Aunt Amanda. "You Toby, you! Now you've done it for
good. Why, why, _why_ can't you never remember anything? It's your
fault, and don't you never try to lay it to that Cabin-boy! And now
what'll we do if we ever get separated from Mr. Mizzen? How'll we ever
call him up to help us out of trouble if we get into it? Here's a
pretty kettle of fish, now ain't it? I hope and pray we can stick close
to Mr. Mizzen until we're all safe and--"

"Look there!" cried Mr. Punch. "Bless me heyes, what do I see? Look at
the ship!"

It was high time to look at the ship. No sooner had the Chinaman's head
disappeared into the depths of the ocean, than a change began to come
over the ship. It grew paler and thinner in the moonlight. The green
shutters along the side faded away one by one. The dark hull became
lighter; the sails grew so thin that at last the watchers could see the
stars shining through them. The whole ship seemed to waver and dissolve
into a pale mist. It did not sink; no, the bow was still high out of the
water, and all the masts and sails were visible. It simply faded away
where it stood.

As it was becoming more and more vague, the voice of Marmaduke the
parrot came across the water out of the rigging; a far-away voice, which
grew fainter and fainter as the ship grew dimmer, until it died away as
if in the distance.

"Th-th-th-three ch-ch-cheers!" it said. "Th-th-th-three ch-ch-cheers for
l-l-l-l-liver and onions--th-th-three ch-ch-cheers--l-l-l-liver--and--"

As Marmaduke's voice died away, the ship dissolved like a pale ghost and
vanished. The Sieve was gone.

The party of adventurers sat on their mattress raft in the midst of the
wide ocean, with never a ship to be seen; the long sea-swell rolled
placidly over the place where their ship had been. They sat huddled
together in silence around the Churchwarden, too horrified to spea