y," he answered.
"Peter," he cried to his mate, "get a fire lighted in the caboose.
Quick, quick, now; they all want food--I see it in their looks."

The skipper said this while we were seated round the table in his little
cabin, pretty closely packed, as may be supposed.

"We want water more than anything else," said Uncle Paul.

"Ya, ya; but we will put some schiedam into it. Water is bad for
starving people."

Peter quickly brought in a huge jug of water, but the skipper would not
allow him to fill our tumblers till he himself had poured a portion of
schiedam into each of them. "There now," he said, "there will no harm
come to you."

Never had I taken so delicious a draught. It certainly had a very
beneficial effect, and we set to with a will on some cold salt beef,
sausages, and biscuits, which the kind skipper placed before us. By the
time we had finished the viands we were quite ready for a fresh supply
of liquid. Peter then brought in a large pot of hot tea, which perhaps
really refreshed us more than anything else. Captain Jan had not
forgotten Marian. All this time he had kept supplying her, till she
assured him that she could eat and drink no more.

After we had taken all the food we required, the skipper and his mate
arranged the cabin to enable us all to sleep with as much comfort as
possible. My father was put into the mate's berth, Uncle Paul slept on
the after-locker, Tim and Arthur on either side, and I on the table. I
should have said that Captain Jan's crew consisted of his mate Peter,
another Dutchman, a black, and two Indians. Worn-out with fatigue as we
were, we all slept on for several hours, and when we awoke our first
impulse was to ask for some food, which, thanks to the honest mate, was
quickly supplied to us. As the cabin was on deck, and the door and
scuppers were kept wide open, though small, it was tolerably cool; and
we felt, after being so long cooped up in the boat, as if suddenly
transported to a luxurious palace. Captain Jan looked in on us very
frequently, and did not appear at all to mind being turned out of his
cabin, but, on the contrary, exhibited a genuine pleasure in attending
to our wants.

By the evening Marian was quite herself again, and wished to get up and
go on deck; while our father was certainly very much better. He also
wanted to get up, but the skipper insisted that he should remain quiet
till his strength was perfectly restored. My father and Un