suddenly seized the edge of the pannikin
between his clenched teeth as in a vice, and held it until he had
drained it to the dregs. Luckily, there were but two or three spoonfuls
left in it, or--as he afterwards assured me--that draught would probably
have been his last.

"Ah!" he ejaculated, with a sigh of unspeakable relief, "nectar! nectar!
Give me more." Adding quickly, "No, no; not yet, not yet! A single
teaspoonful every five minutes! Oh, my God, what anguish! Why did I
not die? Is that Courtenay, or am I dreaming? Where is the captain?"

I whipped off my jacket and placed it under his head, as I allowed him
to sink gently back on the deck, for at this moment Lindsay whispered to
me that the captain was coming round, and I turned to render what
assistance I could. Captain Harrison's eyes were now open, but it was
perfectly plain to us both that his wandering glances were as yet devoid
of recognition; and it was not until some ten minutes later that he
began to evince some understanding of who we were and what had happened.
His first inquiry was after the well-being of those who had been with
him in the boat, and to this I felt constrained to give an evasive but
encouraging reply, as he was so terribly weak that I feared the effect
upon him of a straightforward answer giving the actual state of the
matter. We got him and the doctor down below and put them to bed as
quickly as possible, and by the time that this was done the other eight
poor souls had also been successfully brought round, when they too were
conveyed below and made as comfortable as circumstances would permit.
This done, we disposed of the dead with all due reverence, and then
resumed our search to windward with renewed hope arising out of the
happy discovery of the launch.

It was drawing well on toward eight bells in the afternoon watch that
day when the man whom. I had stationed in the cabin to keep an eye upon
the captain and the doctor came up on deck with the news that both were
now awake, and that the captain wished to see me. I at once obeyed the
summons, and was greatly rejoiced to find that both of my patients were
much stronger, and wonderfully the better in every way for their long
sleep. They lost no time in explaining that they were ravenously
hungry; whereupon I sent word forward to the galley, and in less than
five minutes both were busily engaged in disposing of a bowl of strong
broth, prepared from two of the small rem