think out some plan for the rest of that day,
sometimes talking to ourselves, sometimes with Mr Preddle joining in;
but for the most part he could talk about nothing else but his own
troubles, and about his fish, which he was sure were dying off rapidly,
for no one, he said, could attend to them like he would himself.

"Unless it was you, Dale," he whispered apologetically. "You certainly
did seem to understand them almost as well as I did myself. Ah, I'd
give almost anything to be out there attending to the poor little
things, but I could not go at the cost that was proposed."

He sighed very deeply, drew back, and the little hole was darkened
directly after, for Mr Preddle had lain down to meditate upon the
sufferings of his fish, and when I peeped through at him a few minutes
later he was still meditating with his eyes shut and his mouth open,
while a peculiar sound came at regular intervals from between his lips.

Mr Frewen looked at me inquiringly as I turned round.

"Sound asleep," I whispered.

"Poor Mr Preddle," said Mr Frewen, "he is a very good amiable fellow,
but I think that you and I must make our plans, Dale, and call upon him
to help when all is ready."

I nodded, for I thought so too, and after listening for a few moments at
the door, we came to the conclusion that there was nothing to mind about
the sentries, so we proceeded to make our examination of our prison in a
more determined way.

Several times my fingers had played about the knife I had in my pocket,
and I had longed to bore holes in the cabin-door so as to watch the
sentries; but of course I was checked by the knowledge that by making a
hole through which I could watch them I was providing one by which they
could watch us.

The cabins on either side of the saloon were only so many portions of
the ship boarded off, and provided with doors, so that a couple of
carpenters would have had little difficulty in clearing away the
partition and making one long opening, but we had no tools, and the
slightest noise would have drawn attention to our acts; and these ideas
would, we knew, govern our actions in all we did.

Our idea was of course to get a board out between the doctor's cabin and
Mr Preddle's, and if possible one at the darkest portion of the place
close up to the ship's side; but examine as we would, there did not
appear to be one that it would be possible to move, try how we would.

"It seems to be a very hopeless case, Dale,"