s of good things on the table, but there
was one above all others I wanted most, and that was a big jug of water;
I could have put it to my mouth and drained it dry. The young gentlemen
filled up their tumblers, and passed on the jug to me.

"`Stop,' says the colonel, `you shall temper the water with claret.'
But before he could finish speaking, the glasses were drained dry. We
held them out again, however, and the colonel and the young lady filled
them up, half-and-half, with wine and water. This brought back our
appetites, and we turned to with a will, the colonel's daughter filling
up our plates with a smile, to watch how we ate. When I'd had enough I
got up and made my bow, and the colonel told the steward to get me a
berth somewhere, as he was sure I should be glad to turn in and take a
snooze. He was right, for my eyes were winking, and the young gentlemen
were pretty nigh asleep in their chairs. There were two spare cabins,
and they were in them, with their eyes shut, before I had made my last
scrape and bow at the cuddy-door. The steward told me to turn into his
cot, and it didn't take me long before I was as sound asleep as I ever
was in my life. When I turned out the next morning, I found that the
young gentlemen were still snoozing away. They didn't turn out till
noon, and even then they kept rubbing their eyes as if they hadn't had
enough sleep yet. Otherwise, they seemed in no way the worse for what
they had gone through. In the meantime, the young lady had sent for me
aft, and asked all sorts of questions about our cruise, which Mr Rogers
hadn't told her, and spoke ever so kindly to me. I thought as she was
talking that there wasn't anything in the world I wouldn't do for her.
The colonel also had his say, and after telling me that he was sure I
was a brave, trustworthy fellow, asked me should I like to go ashore
with him, and assist him in an adventure he had in hand. I answered,
that though I liked a spree on shore as well as others, that it was my
duty to stick by the three young gentlemen to look after them, and to
see them safe aboard the frigate again by the first opportunity. He
seemed somewhat taken aback, and said nothing more.

"The dark-looking skipper, Captain Crowhurst they called him, hadn't as
much as spoken to me, nor had the mate, and it's my belief that if it
hadn't been for the colonel and his daughter they would have left us to
perish on the wreck. There was something I d