s still as perky as
ever, in spite of last night's gale, which I thought would ha' blown all
her timbers to Jericho!"

"Ah, sorr!" replied Mr McCarthy with a heavy sigh and a troubled look
in his usually merry twinkling grey eyes, "you'll never say another ship
the likes of her again! If you'll belave me, Mister Lathrope, sorr,
she'd sail ten knots on a bowline; and I'd like to know where you'd bate
that now?"

"I'll not deny she had her good pints," said the American
sympathisingly; "but I guess the poor thing'll soon be bruk up."

"Yes, son, more's the pity," responded the other; "sure an' I wish we
had her safe ashore here and we'd save ivory plank of her."

"It wouldn't be a bad notion," observed Mr Meldrum, who just then came
up to where the two were talking, "to take another trip out to the ship
in the jolly-boat and see whether we could not land some more things
that might be of use to us?"

"Sure the hould's gutted now enthirely," said the Irish mate sadly, "and
the divil a hap'orth we'd get by going. Look at the say that's running,
too; and considther the long pull out there and back again--not that I
wouldn't be afther going, sorr, if you were to say the word!"

"Oh, no, never mind," replied Mr Meldrum. "There's not the slightest
necessity for it, for I believe we brought away all the provisions that
were left in her, and we'd find little enough now! I only thought we
might secure some more of the timber work, as there doesn't seem to be a
particle of wood on the island."

"We'd better wait till she breaks up, sorr," said Mr McCarthy; "sure
and it'll float in thin to us, widout the throuble of fetching it."

"All right!" answered the other. So the contemplated last trip to the
stranded vessel would have been abandoned, had not Florry at that moment
rushed up to her father.

"Oh, poor puss!" she exclaimed, half-crying and almost breathless with
excitement as she clung to his arm and looked up into his face
entreatingly.

"Puss!" repeated Mr Meldrum in astonishment; "what puss?"

"The--the--poor pussy cat we used to play with in the cabin," sobbed
Florry. "It was shut up by the stewardess, and has been left behind in
the ship!"

"Yes, sir," said Mary Llewellyn, who with Kate had followed Florry. "I
clean forgot the creature in the flurry of coming away. I locked it in
the pantry, as it seemed frightened and was scurrying about the cuddy;
and when we went on deck, I didn't think to take it