"As you have, sir," replied the lad. "I couldn't have left him behind,
though it seems very horrible to have taken him on board, and to have
him here with us in the night."

"All fanciful sentiment, Van, my lad. What is there in that poor fellow
now to excite our fear? Come, you must be more manly than that. Cold?"

"Yes; very, now."

"So am I, my lad. These wet things are not comfortable. We'll take to
the oars and row for a bit to keep off the chill. Why, Vandean, you
ought to be well praised for this night's work. I feel quite ashamed of
myself for letting you suggest a way out of our difficulty with the
capsized boat."

"Oh, it was nothing, sir. It just occurred to me," replied Mark.

"I wish it had just occurred to me, my lad; and what is more, I wish we
could see the _Nautilus_ coming towards us with the slave schooner
astern, but there is no such good fortune in store for us till morning."

By this time the water was getting very low in the bottom of the boat,
and ordering the coxswain aft to steer, the lieutenant took the oar of
Tom Fillot, who was rowing stroke, sent him forward, and then made Mark
take the oar of the next man. They both pulled steadily together for
the next half hour, Mr Russell telling the coxswain how to steer, so as
to keep steadily in the wake of the _Nautilus_, which had now for long
enough been out of sight.

The long row thoroughly circulated Mark's blood, driving away all the
feeling of chill, so that it was with a pleasant glowing sensation that
the lad took his place once more in the stern-sheets to sit beside the
lieutenant, and with him anxiously look-out ahead in the hope of seeing
some sign of the ship.

"She may send up a rocket, mayn't she, Mr Russell?" said Mark, after a
long silence, during which the boat had risen and fallen with the swell,
and felt beating with a living pulsation as the men toiled steadily on
at their oars.

"Rocket? Well, yes, she may, but I doubt whether we could see it at
this distance."

"Then she is very far-away?"

"Very, my lad. You see that she is out of sight."

"And suppose we have lost sight of her altogether, sir--what then?"

"What then? Oh, don't let's calculate upon things that are barely
possible. Captains in Her Majesty's service are too particular about
their juniors and ship's company to leave a boat's crew in the lurch."

"Yes, but Captain Maitland might not be able to find us again, sir."

"Come, come