Podmore! Tell me--is there any fresh water in the galley tank?
The ship is lying along less, I think; I would try to get forward. A
little water would do them good. Hallo! Look out! Look out!" The cook
struggled.--"Not you, sir--not you!" He began to scramble to windward.
"Galley!... my business!" he shouted.--"Cook's going crazy now," said
several voices. He yelled:--"Crazy, am I? I am more ready to die than any
of you, officers incloosive--there! As long as she swims I will cook! I
will get you coffee."--"Cook, ye are a gentleman!" cried Belfast. But the
cook was already going over the weather-ladder. He stopped for a moment
to shout back on the poop:--"As long as she swims I will cook!" and
disappeared as though he had gone overboard. The men who had heard sent
after him a cheer that sounded like a wail of sick children. An hour or
more afterwards some one said distinctly: "He's gone for good."--"Very
likely," assented the boatswain; "even in fine weather he was as smart
about the deck as a milch-cow on her first voyage. We ought to go and
see." Nobody moved. As the hours dragged slowly through the darkness
Mr. Baker crawled back and forth along the poop several times. Some men
fancied they had heard him exchange murmurs with the master, but at that
time the memories were incomparably more vivid than anything actual, and
they were not certain whether the murmurs were heard now or many years
ago. They did not try to find out. A mutter more or less did not matter.
It was too cold for curiosity, and almost for hope. They could not spare
a moment or a thought from the great mental occupation of wishing to
live. And the desire of life kept them alive, apathetic and enduring,
under the cruel persistence of wind and cold; while the bestarred black
dome of the sky revolved slowly above the ship, that drifted, bearing
their patience and their suffering, through the stormy solitude of the
sea.

Huddled close to one another, they fancied themselves utterly alone.
They heard sustained loud noises, and again bore the pain of existence
through long hours of profound silence. In the night they saw sunshine,
felt warmth, and suddenly, with a start, thought that the sun would
never rise upon a freezing world. Some heard laughter, listened to
songs; others, near the end of the poop, could hear loud human shrieks,
and opening their eyes, were surprised to hear them still, though very
faint, and far away. The boatswain said:--"Why, it's