orenoon to
remove the old casks, and stow the new ones in the hold. About eleven
o'clock the mate complained of a chilly sensation, and a pain in his
back, which was followed up by a severe headache. He was soon compelled
to leave his work, and take to his berth in the cabin. The next boat
from the shore brought off a surgeon, who promptly pronounced the
disease the yellow fever.

Before the Roebuck could get off, two of the sailors were attacked by
the terrible malady. The only safety for the rest was in immediate
flight; and the schooner got under way, and stood out to sea. The doctor
had left ample directions for the treatment of the disease, but the
medicines appeared to do no good. Mr. Watts was delirious before night.
The two men in the forecastle were no better, and the prospect on board
the vessel was as gloomy as it could be.

Mollie stood by the sufferer in the cabin, in spite of the protest of
her father. She knew what the fever was; but she seemed to be endued
with a courage which was more than human. She nursed the sick man
tenderly, and her simple prayer for his recovery ascended every hour
during the long night. One of the men forward died before morning, and
was committed to the deep by his terrified messmates, without even a
form of prayer over his plague-stricken remains.

Towards night, on the second day out of Barbadoes, Mr. Watts breathed
his last. By the light of the lanterns, his cold form was placed on a
plank extended over the rail. Mollie would not permit him to be buried
in his watery grave without a prayer, and Captain McClintock read one.
Many tears were shed over him, as his body slid off into the sea. Noddy
and Mollie wept bitterly, for they felt that they had lost a good
friend.

There was only one more patient on board, and he seemed to be improving;
but before the morning sun rose, red and glaring on the silent ocean,
there were three more. Captain McClintock was one of them. There was
none to take care of him but Mollie and Noddy; and both of them,
regardless of the demands of their own bodies, kept vigil by his couch.
More faithful nurses a sick man never had. They applied the remedies
which had been used before.

On the following day two more of the crew were committed to their ocean
graves, and despair reigned throughout the vessel. The captain grew
worse every hour, and poor Mollie was often compelled to leave the
bedside that he might not see her weeping over him. He soon be