raft, to keep
up the spirits of his men, and, weak as he was, he would have taken his
spell at the oar if they had let him.

"No, no, sir; you just take your trick at the helm, if you think
proper," exclaimed Croxton. "But just let us do the hard work. It's
your head guides us, and without that we should be badly off."

Devereux saw the wisdom of this remark. They knew that they had five,
and perhaps six days' hard rowing before they could hope to reach
Dominica, the nearest island they supposed belonged to Great Britain,
according to the information Paul had gained from the master. They
were, however, far better off than when they had been on the raft, for
they had food, were in a well-found boat, and knew tolerably well their
position. Still they were not in good spirits, which is not surprising,
considering the scenes they had witnessed, the dangers they had endured,
and the uncertainty of the future.

Dominica was an English possession, but it had once been taken by the
French, and might have been again; and Alphonse fancied that he had
heard that it was proposed to make a descent on the island, in which
case they would fall among enemies instead of friends.

"Ah! but your countrymen would surely treat us who come to them in
distress as friends," observed O'Grady.

"Ah, dat dey vould!" exclaimed Alphonse, warmly.

"Well, mounseer, there is good and there is bad among 'em, of that
there's no doubt," observed Reuben, taking his quid out of his mouth,
and looking the young Frenchman in the face; "but do ye see I'd rather
not try lest we should fall among the bad, and there's a precious lot on
'em."

Notwithstanding these doubts Devereux continued his course for Dominica.
As the sun rose higher in the sky, the heat became greater and greater,
till it was almost insupportable. A sail spread over the boat afforded
some shelter from its rays, but they pierced through it as easily as a
mosquito's sting does through a kid glove, till the air under it became
even more stifling than that above.

All the time in turns they continued to row on--night and day there was
to be no cessation. Reversing the usual order, they longed for the
night, when the air would be cooler, and their heads would escape the
frying process going on while the sun was above them.

"Och, but this is hot," cried O'Grady for the hundredth time. "If this
goes on much longer, we'll all be turned into real black ebony niggers,
and the Chri