this morning, and
as soon as my head was on the pillow I must have gone off fast asleep."

"Yes, but it was yesterday morning."

Rodd sat up quickly in his cot and screwed himself round to stare hard
in his companion's face.

"Look here," he cried, "you are playing tricks!"

"Indeed I'm not! You've been sleeping for about a day and a half."

"Well!" cried Rodd, beginning to dress hurriedly. "But never mind. I
will make up for it by not going to sleep for a whole day. Look here,
you know what's been going on. Where are we? Going up farther so as to
get a mooring-place?"

"We came up yesterday, miles higher up the river, and the brig's moored
close by an open part of the shore. There, make haste and finish
dressing and come and look."

The lad dressed himself probably more quickly than he had ever achieved
the performance before in his life, and in the process he learned that
his uncle and Captain Chubb were on board the brig with several of the
men, the skipper superintending the moorings and the arranging of cables
from the brig to a couple of great forest trees, with tackle so ordered
that the vessel could be careened over to any extent desired, and that
the next morning she was to be allowed to sink with the tide so as to be
bedded in the mud and laid over until the bottom was so exposed that the
carpenter and his mates could get to work.

As soon as Rodd had hurried on deck he found all as his companion had
described, while he had just mastered these facts when there was the
sharp report of a gun.

"What's that?" he cried.

"Oh, only your uncle having a shot at a crocodile. Both he and my
father have been at it all day, sending bullets into them whenever a
head appeared on the surface of the water."

"But I say, look here, Morny; why didn't this wake me?"

"Oh, you were shut up down here and too fast asleep."

"Then that would be uncle's dose," cried Rodd. "He must have given me
too much. Why, he might have killed me."

"Oh no. I expect he knew too well what he was about. He seems to have
kept off the fever."

"Fever, yes! Has anybody else got it?"

"No. Your men are quite well."

"But they didn't sleep as long as I have?" cried Rodd anxiously.

"Not quite; but they all had very long sleeps, and my father says that
they would have been longer if their messmates had not disturbed them.
Now then, you had better go back to your cabin again. The steward told
me that he was keeping s