weed-continent.
Then, about an hour after I had waked the bo'sun, one of the men who had
been tending the fires came up to him to say that we had come to the end
of our supply of weed-fuel. At that, the bo'sun looked very blank, the
which did the rest of us, as well we might; yet there was no help for it,
until one of the men bethought him of the remainder of the bundle of
reeds which we had cut, and which, burning but poorly, we had discarded
for the weed. This was discovered at the back of the tent, and with it we
fed the fire that burned between us and the valley; but the other we
suffered to die out, for the reeds were not sufficient to support even
the one until the dawn.

At last, and whilst it was still dark, we came to the end of our fuel,
and as the fire died down, so did the noises in the valley recommence.
And there we stood in the growing dark, each one keeping a very ready
weapon, and a more ready glance. And at times the island would be
mightily quiet, and then again the sounds of things crawling in the
valley. Yet, I think the silences tried us the more.

And so at last came the dawn.

IX

What Happened in the Dusk

Now with the coming of the dawn, a lasting silence stole across the
island and into the valley, and, conceiving that we had nothing more to
fear, the bo'sun bade us get some rest, whilst he kept watch. And so I
got at last a very substantial little spell of sleep, which made me fit
enough for the day's work.

Presently, after some hours had passed, the bo'sun roused us to go
with him to the further side of the island to gather fuel, and soon we
were back with each a load, so that in a little we had the fire going
right merrily.

Now for breakfast, we had a hash of broken biscuit, salt meat and some
shell-fish which the bo'sun had picked up from the beach at the foot of
the further hill; the whole being right liberally flavored with some of
the vinegar, which the bo'sun said would help keep down any scurvy that
might be threatening us. And at the end of the meal he served out to us
each a little of the molasses, which we mixed with hot water, and drank.

The meal being ended, he went into the tent to take a look at Job, the
which he had done already in the early morning; for the condition of the
lad preyed somewhat upon him; he being, for all his size and
top-roughness, a man of surprisingly tender heart. Yet the boy remained
much as on the previous evening, so that we knew n