he cask which had held the biscuits, and each man took off his
shirt, and let it get wet through and through; and eagerly they sucked
the sail, so that not a drop more than could be helped of the precious
fluid should be lost. Then when they found that the rain continued,
each man took a draught of the pure water from the cask, which they
again filled up as before by means of the sail.

"Oh, Terence, how delicious!" exclaimed Jack, drawing a deep breath.

"Nectar," said Adair, draining a last drop in his cup. It was of a
doubtful brown hue, and in reality tepid from falling on the not over
clean and hot sail.

Jack and Terence learned the lesson, that the value of things can only
be ascertained by being compared with others. That shower was the means
sent by Providence to preserve the lives of many of those on the raft.
Some were already too far gone to benefit by it. They opened their
glassy eyes, and allowed their shipmates to pour the water down their
parched throats; they seemed to revive for a short time, but soon again
sank, and some even died while the water was trickling over their
cracked lips. All this time the raft was constantly surrounded by
sharks. The flesh of the first caught was almost exhausted, and though
dried in the sun had become rather savoury.

"Come, my lads, we must have another of those fellows," cried Hemming,
standing up, and supporting himself against the mast. "Can any of you
heave the bight of a rope over one of them?"

"I'll try, sir," said Dick Needham, kneeling at the edge of the raft,
for he had not strength to stand. How changed he was from the stout
seaman he had appeared but a few days before. He made several trials in
vain. Jack Shark always kept at too great a distance when the rope was
thrown. At last one of the seamen took off his shoes, and, tucking up
his trousers, stuck out his leg and moved it slowly backwards and
forwards. The voracious shark saw the tempting bait, and made a dash at
it. The seaman drew it in, and as the fish, disappointed of his prize,
turned round whisking up his tail out of the water, Needham adroitly
hove the rope over it. As the shark darted off Dick was very nearly
drawn overboard, but the rope tightening brought up the shark; and as he
turned round to ascertain what had got hold of his tail another rope was
thrown over his head, and he was hauled, in spite of his plunges and
struggles, on board. A few blows on the spine near the t