but, on the third morning, the gale
moderated sufficiently for us to be able to scud before it in the
direction of the Cape. It was lucky for us that the wind, by the way,
did not shift once while we were lying-to, blowing steadily from the
same quarter it began in, from the south-east. If it had changed at
all, especially during the night at any time, it would have been all up
with us!"

"Yes?" said Fritz interrogatively.

"Why, of course it would, for it was as dark as pitch, so that you could
not see your hand before your face; and if the wind had chopped round,
bringing us athwart the heavy rolling sea that was running, we should
have been swamped in a moment, without the chance of saving ourselves by
turning the boat's head so as to meet the waves; do you see now?"

"I see," said Fritz, with a shudder. "It was bad enough to confront
your peril in daylight, but it would have been awful to have been
engulfed in the darkness!"

"That was what was in our minds," proceeded Eric; "at least, I can
answer for my own thoughts. However, on the morning of the third day,
as I've told you, the wind slackening down somewhat, although still
blowing steadily from the south-east, we hauled up to our floating
anchor, which we quickly proceeded to take to pieces, hauling on board
again the oars and old boat-stretchers that had composed it, and which
had served the purpose of fending off somewhat the rollers, these
breaking over the spars, under whose lee we had comparatively still
water. We then, with a great deal of difficulty, as it was a dangerous
operation on account of getting broadside on to the waves, managed to
slew the jolly-boat's head round; when, rigging up a scrap of a sprit-
sail amidships, so as not to bury the little craft's nose, which might
have been the case if we had tried to step our proper mast more forward,
with the captain steering with an oar out to windward to give him
greater command of her than the rudder would have done, we scudded away
towards the African coast, giving up the pinnace as lost, and looking
out only for ourselves."

"You had plenty to do," said Fritz, "without thinking of any one else."

"Yes," replied Eric; "but still, we could not forget them so easily as
all that. Shore folk think sailors are heartless, and that when a poor
chap is lost overboard, they only say that `So-and-so has lost the
number of his mess!' and, after having an auction over his kit in the
fo'c's'le, then