t
himself to order its death.

"`I am sorry, sir,' said Mr Carr, `to propose what I do; but that dog
may be the means of preserving the lives of all of us. We must kill
him.'

"`You'll be proposing to kill and eat each other before long,' exclaimed
the poor master, in a querulous tone.

"`Heaven forbid!' answered the mate. `But to take the life of a brute
beast is a different matter. I don't see how we can spare him. Even if
we do, he will not live long, and now his blood alone will be of great
importance.'

"At last the captain consented to the death of his favourite, and poor
Trojan was led up on deck to be put to death. Before he was killed, we
all of us took an anxious look round the horizon, to ascertain that no
sail was near. We would gladly, even then, have saved the poor dog's
life. The cravings of hunger soon, however, drove all feelings of
remorse from our bosoms. The faithful brute looked up into our faces,
and his eyes said as clearly as if he had spoken the words, `I know that
it is necessary--be quick about it.' How carefully we husbanded every
drop of the blood! The mate got a teaspoon, and served it out with that
measure full to each of us at a time, while the flesh was reserved for
another day.

"I cannot describe how those wretched days passed away. Except the mate
and three others of us, no one could even stand. The captain lay in his
cot growing worse and worse. I was on deck one afternoon with Mr Carr,
steering and keeping the ship's head to the eastward, when we were
startled by a faint shriek from the cabin. Presently afterwards the
captain rushed on deck.

"`Mutiny! mutiny!' he exclaimed, frantically flourishing his arms about.
`But I'll take care that no one takes the ship from me. I'll shoot the
first man who approaches me, be he whom he may. See here here!'

"He drew a brace of pistols from his bosom, and presented them at us.
Happily, one missed fire; the ball from the other passed close to Mr
Carr's head.

"`That's right, sir,' said Mr Carr, quite coolly. `Now you've quelled
the mutiny, let's go below.'

"He signed to one of the other men, who crawled aft to help me to steer,
while he took the captain below. This outbreak was the last flaring up
of the poor man's almost exhausted strength. His wife watched him as
the flame of life sank lower and lower in the socket; and two days after
that, when I went into the cabin, I found her fainting beside him, and
he wa