e of much
assistance to you; but in all cases where skill rather than great bodily
strength is required I hope you will unhesitatingly make use of me. For
instance, you are hungry; but you cannot make even such slight
preparation of your food as is possible, because you are steering the
boat. Again, you will soon need rest, but you will be unable to take it
unless I am able to steer the boat in your stead. Therefore please
teach me forthwith how to manage the boat, so that I may be able to
`relieve' you--as I think you sailors call it--from time to time, as may
prove necessary."

And this was the girl who, while on board ship, had hedged herself in
and kept us all at arm's-length by a barrier of such chill and haughty
reserve as had at times approached very nearly to insolence!

Of course I eagerly accepted her offer--for I foresaw that a time would
very soon arrive when her assistance would be indispensable--and at once
proceeded to initiate her into the art of steering. Unfortunately, we
were running dead before the wind at the time--which is the most
difficult point of sailing for a novice to master--yet my new pupil
seemed to grasp the idea at once and without an effort; and a quarter of
an hour later she was watching the run of the sea and checking the
tendency of the boat to round-to almost as knowingly and cleverly as
though she had been sailing a boat all her lifetime.

The moment that I found she could be trusted alone I took up a position
on the midship thwart and, selecting the best-looking fowl from our
stock, proceeded to pluck and draw it, afterwards giving it a good wash
in the salt water alongside. This done, I cut off a leg and, having
skinned it, sliced off a small piece of flesh which, with many
misgivings, I placed in my mouth and began dubiously to masticate. The
idea of devouring raw flesh seemed to me to be exceedingly repulsive and
disgusting, but it was either that or nothing, and, realising the full
truth of Miss Onslow's remark upon the importance of maintaining my
strength, I persevered. And presently, when I had conquered in some
measure the natural repugnance excited by the idea of such food, I found
that really, after all, it was very much a matter of sentiment, and
that, so far as the flavour was concerned, there was nothing at all
objectionable. The taste was of course novel, and peculiar, but I
thought it possible that one might accustom oneself to it without much
difficulty.