i, the anxieties
we had lately endured, and the confinement of the sloop, were telling
visibly on her health. Moreover, Kidd's death, richly as he deserved his
fate, had been a great shock to her. She strove to be cheerful, and
displayed splendid courage, yet the increasing pallor of her cheeks and
the sadness in her eyes, showed how much she suffered. We men stinted
ourselves of water that she might have enough, but seeing this she
declined to take more than her share, often refusing to drink when she was
tormented with thirst.

And then there befell an accident which well-nigh proved fatal to us all.
A gust of wind blew the mainsail (made of grass-cloth) into ribbons, the
consequence being that our rate of sailing was reduced to two knots an
hour, and our hope of reaching Callao to zero.

Meanwhile, Angela grew weaker and weaker, she fell into a low fever, was
at times even delirious, and I began to fear that, unless help speedily
came, a calamity was imminent, which for me personally would be worse than
the quenching of Quipai. And when we were at the last extremity, mad with
thirst and feeble with fasting, help did come. One morning at daylight
Yawl sighted a sail--a large vessel a few miles astern of us, but a point
or two more to the west, and on the same tack as ourselves. We altered the
sloop's course at once so as to bring her across the stranger's bows, for
having neither ensign to reverse, nor gun wherewith to fire a signal of
distress, it was a matter of life and death for us to get within
hailing-distance.

"What is she! Can you make her out?" I asked Yawl, as trembling with
excitement, we looked longingly at the noble ship in which centered our
hopes.

"Three masts! A merchantman? No, I'm blest if I don't think she's a
man-of-war. So she is, a frigate and a firm 'un--forty or fifty guns, I
should say."

"Under what flag?"

"I'll tell you in a minute--Union Jack! No, stars and stripes. She belongs
to Uncle Sam, she do, sir, and he's no call to be ashamed of her; she's a
perfect beauty and well handled. By--I do believe they see us. They are
shortening sail. We shall be alongside in a few minutes."

"Who are you and what do you want?" asked a voice from the frigate, so
soon as we were within hail.

"We are English and starving. For God's sake, throw us a rope!" I
answered.

The rope being thrown and the sloop made fast, I asked the officer of the
watch to take us on board the frigate, as seeing t