ld not tell when he might get back to that
island. He calculated, too, that the _Lilly_ would have returned there,
and that his friends would have become very anxious at not seeing him.
He felt far more for Ellen Lydall than for himself.

For some time the raft glided on, but the wind was gradually falling,
and before the sun went down there was again a perfect calm. Although
it could be urged on by paddles, yet, weak and fatigued as all hands
were, but slow progress could be made in that way, while neither water
nor provisions would hold out till they could reach the land. The sea
went down with the wind, and the raft became now perfectly tranquil,
enabling those on it to go to sleep without fear of being washed off.
One at a time only remained awake to keep watch, though there was not
much object in doing so, as, during the calm, no vessel could come near
them. At length the sun again rose and glided through the blue sky, in
which not a cloud appeared to give indication of a change of weather.
His rays beat down on the heads of the seamen on the raft, making them
long for a shady place.

Hour after hour the calm continued, and there they floated in the
centre, as it were, of a vast mirror, covered by a blue canopy. Very
little was said now by any of the party. Even Bill could scarcely sing
a verse of a song, though he made several attempts, to keep up his own
spirits and those of his companions. Hour after hour passed by; the
night again came. Often, during the period of darkness, those on the
raft thought they saw vessels approaching, but as they drew near they
vanished into thin air. Sometimes, too, they declared they heard voices
shouting to them. Even Mr Collinson could scarcely persuade himself,
at times, when he heard his companions talking of the vessels drawing
near, that he did not also see them. They seldom moved, except to hand
the cup of precious water round one to the other, that they might
moisten their lips. Oh, how precious that water was now becoming!

The last drop was at length exhausted, and for some time they had not
taken sufficient to quench their thirst. That thirst increased till it
became almost intolerable. What would they not have given for one
single bottle-full? Mr Collinson charged them on no account to be
tempted to drink the salt water.

"Madness and death will be the consequence, if you do," he observed.

Still, with difficulty they could refrain from taking the tem