sails had been clewed up, or that she
was too far off to be seen unless the sun was shining directly on them.
We had many discussions as to what she was. I need scarcely say that
she caused us no little uneasiness.

Still the calm continued. Day after day the sun went down in the calm
ocean, and rose again to cast a ruddy glow over its mirror-like surface,
and there in the distance lay the stranger, though only sharp eyes could
have detected her.

I began to be very anxious about the sheep. The success of the
undertaking depended in a great measure on their being kept alive,
still, we had to put them on an allowance, as we had ourselves. Little
Margaret and Tommy couldn't understand why they shouldn't have as much
water as they wanted, when there was plenty alongside. They could not
understand that salt water was worse than no water at all; nor could the
poor sheep, probably, when they were brought up on deck, and gazed out
on the glittering ocean around them.

When matters had come to this pass, I began for the first time to lose
heart. I was sitting with my head bowed down, resting on my hand, when
my boy Peter said to me--"Father I have an idea--I have heard that fresh
water may be got out of salt, and I think I can manage it, if you do not
mind expending our fuel."

These words restored my spirits. We had laid in a large supply of fuel
at the Cape; water was of more consequence than anything else. It would
be better to break up all the spare cases, and even the bulkheads and
cabin furniture, than to go without it. Peter soon explained his plan;
I agreed to try it. We, after a search among the cargo, found two large
camp kettles. Soldering down their lids, we bored a hole in the top of
one and in the side of the other, and joined the two with a piece of
piping, three feet long. The one with a hole in the top we placed on
the fire. We fitted a funnel to the spout, through which we poured in
water; the other kettle was fixed on a stand, and we soldered a small
pipe in at the bottom. Above the outside kettle we slung a bucket full
of water also, with a small pipe in it, and the top of the kettle we
covered over with cloths, which, by the means of the bucket, were kept
constantly wet. The kettle on the fire was filled, the fire blazed up,
and, as the water boiled, we watched with anxiety the result of the
process. Some drops at length fell from the lower kettle, and a jug was
ready to catch them. Pet