food, though we ate what we could to keep up
our strength. We were soon summoned to watch and assist the men at the
pumps and buckets, for even now, not for an instant were they allowed to
relax in their exertions. Captain Bouchier, weak as he was, went
frequently amongst them.

"Keep at it, my lads!" cried Nettleship; "while there's life there's
hope. If we can keep the ship afloat for a short time longer, it may
make all the difference whether we save our lives or perish. Cheer up,
lads, cheer up! Show that you're British seamen to the last!"

The men uttered a faint cheer when the captain, leaning on the purser's
arm, returned.

Captain Drury, who had fought the ship so bravely after Captain Bouchier
was wounded, was the life and soul of all on board.

Noon had passed, and still the stout ship lay rolling in the trough of
the sea. Inch by inch the water was rising, and we knew that if we were
to cease pumping and baling, it would gain upon us still more rapidly.

Already despair could be seen on nearly every countenance.
Notwithstanding, few, if any, flinched from their work. Those who
spoke, talked of home and friends whom they never expected to see again.
Some shook hands, believing that at any moment the ship might make the
last fatal plunge, and sink beneath the waves.

Larry was now like my shadow, wherever I went, he followed, no one
preventing him, except when he had to take his turn at the pumps or
buckets.

Some of the officers had written letters addressed to friends or
relatives, and were enclosing them in bottles headed up in small casks,
so that some record might be preserved of our fate. Nettleship had
prepared one.

"Have you anything to say to your friends at Ballinahone, Paddy?" he
asked.

"Yes; beg your mother to write to them, and say that I send my love to
all, not forgetting my uncle the major, and that I have been thinking
much of them to-day," I answered, as well as I could speak with the
choking sensation in my throat.

"And please, Mr Nettleship, may I be so bold as to axe you to put in a
word about Larry Harrigan, and to say that he stuck to Mr Terence to
the last, and that if he couldn't save him, it wasn't the will that was
wanting, but the cruel say was too much for us at last."

"And put in a word to my family,--you know their address," said Tom;
"just my love, and that I was thinking of them. They'll know that I was
likely to have done my duty as far as I could,