will publish."

"I should like to read them; I am fond of the sagas," he said, and after
this, under pressure of their physical misery, the conversation died
away.

Hour succeeded to hour, and the weather moderated so much that now they
were in little danger of being swamped. This, indeed, was fortunate,
since in the event of a squall or other emergency, in their numbed
condition it was doubtful whether they could have found enough strength
to do what might be necessary to save themselves. They drank what
remained of the whiskey, which put life into their veins for a while,
but soon its effects passed off, leaving them, if possible, more frozen
than before.

"What is the time?" asked Stella, after a long silence.

"It should be daybreak in about two hours," he said, in a voice that
attempted cheerfulness.

Then a squall of sleet burst upon them, and after this new misery a
torpor overcame Stella; at least, her shiverings grew less violent, and
her head sank upon his shoulder. Morris put one arm round her waist to
save her from slipping into the water at the bottom of the boat,
making shift to steer with the other. Thus, for a while they ploughed
forward--whither he knew not, across the inky sea, for there was no
moon, and the stars were hidden, driven on slowly by the biting breath
of the winter wind.

Presently she awoke, lifted her head, and spoke, saying:

"We can't last much longer in this cold and wet. You are not afraid, are
you?"

"No, not exactly afraid, only sorry; it is hard to go with so much to be
done, and--to leave behind."

"You shouldn't think like that," she answered, "for what we leave must
follow. She will suffer, but soon she will be with you again, where
everything is understood. Only you ought to have died with her, and not
with me, a stranger."

"Fate settles these things," he muttered, "and if it comes to that,
maybe God will give her strength. But the dawn is near, and by it we may
see land."

"Yes, yes,"--now her voice had sunk to a whisper,--"the dawn is always
near, and by it we shall see land."

Then again Stella's head sank upon his shoulder, and she slept heavily;
nor, although he knew that such slumbers are dangerous, did he think it
worth while to disturb her.

The invisible seas hissed past; the sharp wind bit his bones, and over
him, too, that fatal slumber began to creep. But, although he seldom
exercised it, Morris was a man of strong will, and while any strength
w