Ward, so that he
may be able to feed up a bit an' git the better o' this here sickness.
We won't feel the want of such a little crumb each, an' he'll be ever so
much the better for it."

"Agreed," chorused the men, apparently without exception.

"All right, lads," said the mate, while a rare smile lighted up for a
moment his usually stern countenance; "when the need for such
self-denial comes I'll call on ye to exercise it, but it ain't called
for yet, because I've been lookin' after the interests o' Will Ward
while he's been ill. Justice, you see, stands first o' the virtues in
my mind, an' it's my opinion that it wouldn't be justice, but something
very much the reverse, if we were to rob the poor boy of his victuals
just because he couldn't eat them."

"Right you are, sir," interposed Dick Darvall.

"Well, then, holdin' these views," continued the mate, "I have put aside
Will Ward's share every time the rations were served, so here's what
belongs to him--in this keg for the meat, and this bag for the biscuit--
ready for him to fall-to whenever his twist is strong enough."

There were marks of hearty approval, mingled with laughter, among the
men on hearing this, but they stopped abruptly and listened for more on
observing a perplexed look on their leader's face.

"But there's something that puzzles me about it, lads," resumed the
mate, "and it is this, that the grub has somehow accumulated faster than
I can account for, considering the smallness o' the addition to the lot
each time."

On hearing this the men were a little surprised, but Charlie Brooke
burst into a short laugh.

"What!" he exclaimed, "you don't mean to say that the victuals have
taken root and begun to grow, do you?"

"I don't mean to _say_ anything," returned the mate quietly; "but I'm
inclined to _think_ a good deal if you've no objection, Doctor."

"How d'ee feel now, Will?" said Charlie, stooping forward at the moment,
for he observed that the boy--whose bed was on the floor at his feet--
had moved, and was gazing up at him with eyes that seemed to have grown
enormously since their owner fell sick.

"I feel queer--and--and--I'm inclined to _think_, too," returned Will in
a faint voice.

Nothing more was said at that time, for a sudden shift in the wind
necessitated a shift of the sail, but Dick Darvall nodded his head
significantly, and it came to be understood that "Doctor" Brooke had
regularly robbed himself of part of his meagre