I could not remain at the helm for fear of
falling into a slumber at my post. So I tied up the tiller, and,
for the rest of the night, walked the deck, only altering the
schooner's course when I thought that she was being driven too far
from the spot where the boat had put off.

All the night through I peered over the dark sea, and at intervals
raised my voice, in the faint hope of coming across the boat. But
for all the lookout that I kept, never a boat could I see; and for
all my shouting, never a response to my cries could I hear.
Whatever had become of the skipper--whether he had been picked up
or was drowned--the mate and Jerry were gone, and I, the youngest
of the crew, was left alone on the Falcon to bring her back to
port, if haply I was not taken by her across the dreary waste of
ocean to some terrible and unknown destiny.

Chapter XXXI. An Arctic Waif.

When the dim light of dawn fell upon the sea I looked over the gray
waters through the telescope. The mist had faded away, and the snow
had ceased to fall. A fresh breeze from the low east brought a
faint glimmer of sunshine with it. But though I searched the
horizon, and the wide intervening space of sea, yet could I
discover nothing of the boat, and Fair Isle was nowhere to be seen.

Looking for that island--which I knew to be the nearest land--I
remembered the islanders and thought how little chance there now
remained of the Falcon rendering them assistance in their need of
provisions. I saw no possibility of reaching Fair Isle; for, as I
had seen it on the previous day, it appeared but a small rock; and
being out of all my reckoning, and, as I supposed, a considerable
distance to leeward, I did not think it wise to waste much time in
the vain effort to reach the island, the exact position of which I
was ignorant of. I might have beat about for two or three days,
perhaps, without sighting it, and yet I knew not what other land to
make for.

The wind, which was now blowing east-southeast, was unfavourable in
an attempt to make for the Orkneys. The only alternative that I
could see, therefore, was to head the schooner round on the port
tack and bear northward to the Shetlands.

I went below to look at the chart to determine my position and the
course I should take; and, to prepare myself for difficulties I
foresaw, I lighted a fire and made myself some coffee and cooked
some bacon for breakfast. When I had eaten a good meal and warmed
myself, a