hurry, and all to lose."

Sam Potts, having recovered his presence of mind, did as he was advised,
and, the rest nicely trimming the canoe, he was enabled to crawl in
directly over the stern, though not without causing a considerable
amount of water to flow in over the gunwale. The midshipmen with their
caps, and the two men with their hands; quickly baled it out; but so low
was the canoe with their weight, that it was very evident, should any
sea get up, that they would run a great risk of being swamped.

In vain they looked out for the other men, but no sign of them could
they discover. They hailed, on the chance of their having been thrown
overboard when the dhow had got more ahead, but no reply came to their
shouts. They must either have been kept on board, or sunk immediately.
Their own situation was, however, too precarious to allow them to
trouble themselves much about the fate of their companions--without food
or water, or the means of propelling their canoe, they might too
probably, even if not drowned, die of hunger and thirst. Still, they
had reason to be thankful that the canoe had been cast adrift at that
very moment, and that they had been enabled to get on board her. The
circumstance appeared providential, and why should they, therefore,
fancy that they were to be allowed to perish?

The sea continued calm, and a downpour of rain gave them a sufficient
amount of fresh water, which they caught in their hats and caps, to
quench their thirst. They dared not move, so Sam Potts remained aft,
Jerry amidships, Desmond next to him, and Archie forward, all of them
sitting with their legs stretched out at the bottom of the canoe. The
rain made them feel somewhat cold, notwithstanding that after some time
Desmond went off to sleep, to finish the snooze so fatally indulged in
while trying to keep his watch on the deck of the dhow. Before long
Archie followed his example, as did Sam Potts, leaving Jerry alone
awake.

Thus the night passed away. The two midshipmen were both awoke at the
same moment by finding the rays of the sun shining in their eyes.
"Where are we?" exclaimed Desmond. "Faith, I fancied that I was away
snug at home at Ballymacree, and little did I think that I was floating
about in a canoe out in the Mozambique Channel."

"We may be very thankful that we are not at the bottom of the said
channel," remarked Archie.

"Faith, you may say that, my boy," said Desmond; "small thanks to the
r