got accustomed to the taste of the oil. The meal was soon finished, and
was washed down with some wine and water. Both the mate and Walter
found themselves much stronger after the meal, and did not fail again to
return thanks to God for sending it to them. They then collected the
rest of the fish, which they cut open, and, at the mate's suggestion,
hung up in the sun to dry; reserving two to eat fresh at their next
meal. The heat of the sun and the nature of their food made them very
thirsty, and Walter especially was much inclined to drink freely from
the water-barrel.

"Remember, my lad," said the mate, "that won't last for ever, and we
must take care to economise it. Just take a little now and then when
you feel overcome with thirst. To my mind, under our circumstances it
would be as wrong to keep drinking away at our water-barrel as it is for
a man to spend his fortune without thinking of the future. That's our
chief wealth just now."

Walter, after this, followed the mate's example, and only took a
mouthful at a time, when he felt his throat unusually dry.

Onward they sailed, not always in a straight course; for they were
obliged to keep before the wind, which occasionally shifted a few points
of the compass. They were several times tantalised by seeing other
coveys of flying-fish rising out of the water, and darting fifty feet,
and sometimes even one hundred feet, over the surface; but none came
near them. They saw also dolphins and bonitoes swimming near them, and
occasionally caught sight of a large shark, with its black fin just
above the water. Now and then a bonito came so near to the raft, that
had they possessed a harpoon they could easily have caught it. The
mate, indeed, could not resist the temptation of giving one of them a
blow on the head with his oar, hoping to stun it; but the creature,
notwithstanding the heavy thump it had received, darted off, and was
lost to sight. "If I had been wise, I should have had a running bowline
ready, and we would have caught the fellow," said the mate. "I will
have one for the next, and if we are quick about it we may get him on
board." The rope was prepared, and Walter kept eagerly on the watch;
but the wished-for opportunity, as is often the case when once a chance
has been lost, did not return. Two or three big fish came swimming by
them, however, but too far off to be caught--apparently to have a look
at the strangers passing across their domai