"though, to be sure,
the wine is not bad, and I should not mind if it had been a little
stronger."

The calm continued. The sea was like glass. Chips of wood, even some
feathers, thrown overboard, did not move from the side of the vessel.
There she lay, her battered sides reflected in the mirror-like surface
of the ocean. Now her head slowly moved round in one direction, now in
another, but no progress was made. At night they lay down, hoping that
the morning would bring a breeze; but when the morning sun began its
upward course, his rays getting hotter and hotter, till the pitch in the
seams bubbled and hissed, on he went, passing almost overhead, till he
again glided down into his ocean bed in the west.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

Day after day, the brig floated on the motionless ocean. The water was
almost exhausted, so also was the cask of claret. There was still some
food remaining, but, without water, it would be of little avail in
keeping those on board the brig alive. Grimshaw had hitherto kept up
his spirits, as well as the rest of the party, but he and Tommy Rebow
declared that they would work no more, that the vessel was doomed to
destruction, and that sink she would in the course of a few days.

"But before that time, perhaps, a breeze will spring up, and we shall be
slipping along merrily through the water," observed Sunshine Bill.

"We shall be slipping down to the bottom, rather," said Old Grim.
"Though we have been pumping away till we have nearly pumped our arms
off, the water has been gaining upon us for the last two days, to my
knowledge. It comes in all round the vessel, and human power can no
longer keep her afloat."

Even Mr Collinson looked graver than he had done for some time. He was
now able to take an occasional spell at the pumps, and, as if to shame
Grimshaw, he took hold of the brake. After working away for some time,
he sounded the well His countenance showed that there was more water in
the vessel than he liked.

"My lads," he said at length, "I am afraid, after all, that we shall be
unable to keep the brig afloat. At all events, in case she should go
down, it will be wise to have some means of saving our lives. Our raft
is small for a long voyage: we will, therefore, haul it up alongside,
and enlarge and strengthen it. It will enable us to keep afloat till
some vessel passes, though I cannot promise you that we should be able
to reach Jamaica on it."

Several empty bo