grog for
you."

Bob Corkey growled a little as he wiped his knife on his leg, and
accepted the allowance of "grog," which, however, was only pure water.

"Are you sure the raft can stand a storm?" inquired Watty Wilkins of
Philosopher Jack, who sat eating his poor meal beside him.

"Sure?" responded Jack, "we can be sure of nothing in this life."

"Except trouble," growled Corkey.

"Oh yes, you can be sure of more than that," said Baldwin Burr; "you can
always be sure of folly coming out of a fool's mouth."

"Come, come, Baldwin, be civil," said Philosopher Jack; "it's cowardly,
you know, to insult a man when you can't fight him."

"Can't fight him?" repeated Burr with a grin; "who said I couldn't fight
him, eh? Why, I'm ready to fight him now, right off."

"Nevertheless, you can't," persisted the philosopher; "how could two men
fight on a raft where there's not room for a fair stand-up scrimmage
between two rats? Come now, don't argue, Burr, but answer little
Wilkins's question if you can."

"Stowaways don't desarve to have their questions answered," said Corkey;
"in fact, they don't desarve to live. If I had my way, I'd kill little
Wilkins and salt him down to be ready for us when the pork and biscuit
fail."

"Well, now, as to the safety of this here raft in a gale, small
Wilkins," said Baldwin, regardless of Corkey's interruption, "that
depends summat on the natur' o' the gale. If it was only a half-gale
we'd weather it all right, I make no doubt; but, if it should come to
blow hard, d'ee see, we have no occasion to kill and eat you, as we'd
all be killed together and eaten by the sharks."

"Sharks!" exclaimed Mr Luke, whose damp garments were steaming under
the powerful sun like a boiler on washing-day; "are there sharks here?"

"Ay," said Corkey, pointing to the sea astern, where the glassy surface
was broken and rippled by a sharp angular object, "that's a shark
a-follerin' of us now, leastwise the back fin of one. If you don't
believe it, jump overboard and you'll soon be convinced."

This reference to the shark was overheard by Polly, who came out of her
bower to see it. The monster of the deep came close up at that moment,
as if to gratify the child, and, turning on its back, according to shark
habit when about to seize any object, thrust its nose out of the water.
For one moment its double row of teeth were exposed to view, then they
closed on a lump of pork that had been accidentally kno