y
staring them in the face with that determination which promised no
prospect of avoiding it, and none was cherished. The only change that
occurred was in the action. The swimmers no longer directed themselves
in a particular course. There was none for them to follow. With the
disappearance of the sail they no longer knew in what direction to look
for the raft. For all they now knew of it, it might have gone to the
bottom, leaving them alone upon the bosom of the limitless ocean.

"No use swimmin' on'ards!" said Ben, despairingly. "It'll only waste
the bit of strength that be left us."

"No use," assented the negro. "Less lay to, and float on de water. Dat
be easier, and we can keep up de longer. Do, Massa Ben,--gib me de gal.
You mo' tired dan I. Come, lilly Lally, you grasp hold on ma shoulder!
Dat's de bess way. Come, now,--come, dear lilly gal."

And as Snowball spoke, he swam close alongside the girl and, gently
detaching her hand from the shoulder of the sailor, transferred its
feeble grasp to his own.

Ben no longer offered resistance to this generous action on the part of
his old comrade: for, in truth, he stood in dire necessity of the
relief; and, the transfer having been effected, both continued to float
upon the water, sustaining themselves with no more effort than was
absolutely necessary to keep their heads above the surface.

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE.

WAITING FOR DEATH.

For several minutes the wretched castaways of the _Catamaran_ remained
in their perilous position,--almost motionless in the midst of the deep
blue water,--precariously suspended upon its surface,--suspended between
life and death!

Under any circumstances the situation would have been trying to the
stoutest nerves,--even under circumstances where a hope of deliverance
might have been indulged in. Without this it was awful.

Neither black man nor white one any longer contemplated the _danger_ of
death: both believed in its _certainty_.

How could they doubt it?

Had either been standing upon the scaffold, with the condemned cap drawn
over his eyes and the rope adjusted around his neck, he could not have
felt surer of the nearness of his end.

Both believed it to be simply a question of time; an hour or two,--
perhaps not so much, since the fatigues and struggles through which they
had just passed had already made sad inroads upon their strength,--but
an hour or two at most, and all would be over. Both must succ