entleman, do ye see, knew exactly what we all
wanted, and that's just what he asked God to give us, and no more.

"`And now, Needham, what do you consider is the first thing we ought to
do?' said Mr Rogers, as soon as he had finished.

"`Let us try and get some water,' sang out Mr Desmond. `I'm terribly
thirsty, I could drink a bucketful if I had it.

"`So could I, for my thrapple is as dry as a dustbin,' added Mr Gordon.

"`As to that, I am not better than either of you,' says Mr Rogers, `but
I thought that I'd try to hold out as long as I could.'

"`Well,' says I, `I'll make my way below and see what I can bring up.
Water will be better than wine or spirits, and if I can find any you
shall have it.'

"`No, no, Needham, you stay where you are,' says Mr Rogers. `Just pass
a rope aft and I'll make it fast round my waist till I can get the hatch
off. The water is pretty well up to the coamings already, and my weight
won't make the difference which yours might.'

"He seemed to think that there was more danger than I did--that the
weight of a single man might capsize the craft altogether. I believed
that if we had all gone below together it wouldn't have mattered.
However, I did as he ordered me. It was a sliding-hatch, you remember,
and he soon got it off far enough to let himself down into the cabin.
We all sat watching for him to come back again. At last I heard his
voice singing out to me to hoist away. Looking down I saw him seated on
the companion hatch with Master Spider, the monkey clinging to his neck
while he was making fast the end of the rope to a basket full of all
sorts of things which he had collected below. I hauled it up, and he
followed with Spider.

"`Water! water!' cried the others.

"`I couldn't find a drop,' he answered, `but I've brought some oranges
and a bottle of wine. It's the last in the locker, so we must take care
how we use it.' There was just one orange apiece, and for my part I'd
have given a five-pound note for mine rather than go without it. As to
the wine we couldn't touch it, though we were glad of some before long.
The only solid food we had was biscuit, for the fish and venison had
gone bad, and we were not sharp set enough to eat it; but then we had,
besides the oranges, several sorts of fruit; their outlandish names I
never can remember. Though they didn't put much strength into us they
were what we wanted, seeing that we had no water to moisten our throats.
Sti