se, and rise, and rise until it
caught him by the throat and threatened to choke him, only to release
him as before? Was he to go through that daily torture until he starved
or died of thirst? He had not had a bite to eat, a drop to drink, since
the day before.

It was morning now. On his right hand the sun sprang from the ocean bed
with the same swiftness with which it had departed the night before.
Like the tide, it, too, rose, and rose. There was not a cloud to temper
the fierceness with which it beat upon his head, not a breath of air to
blow across his fevered brow. The blinding rays struck him like hammers
of molten iron. He stared at it out of his frenzied, blood-shot eyes and
writhed beneath its blazing heat. Before him the white sand burned like
smelted silver, beyond him the tremulous ocean seemed to seethe and
bubble under the furious fire of the glowing heaven above his head--a
vault of flaming topaz over a sapphire sea.

He closed his eyes, but could not shut out the sight--and then the
dreams of night came on him again. His terrors were more real, more
apparent, more appalling, because he saw his dreaded visions in the
full light of day. By and by these faded as the others had done. All his
faculties were merged into one consuming desire for water--water. The
thirst was intolerable. Unless he could get some his brain would give
way. He was dying, dying, dying! Oh, God, he could not die, he was not
ready to die! Oh, for one moment of time, for one drop of
water--God--God--God!

Suddenly before his eyes there arose a figure. At first he fancied it
was another of the apparitions which had companied with him during the
awful night and morning; but this was a human figure, an old man, bent,
haggard like himself with watching, but with a fierce mad joy in his
face. Where had he come from? Who was he? What did he want? The figure
glared upon the unhappy man with one fiery eye, and then he lifted
before the captive's distorted vision something--what was it--a cup of
water? Water--God in heaven--water brimming over the cup! It was just
out of reach of his lips--so cool, so sweet, so inviting! He strained at
his chains, bent his head, thrust his lips out. He could almost touch
it--not quite! He struggled and struggled and strove to break his
fetters, but without avail. Those fetters could not be broken by the
hand of man. He could not drink--ah, God!--then he lifted his blinded
eyes and searched the face of the o