mistress work; so the end of it was that they arranged to take one
oar, both working at it at once, while Julius volunteered to help me.
Presently we had the two mast-heads bearing straight ahead, and the boat
moving through the water at the rate of about three miles an hour, the
two girls, being perfectly fresh, doing quite as much work as Julius and
myself.

Strenuously we toiled, and when at length the light failed us we had
risen the craft sufficiently to determine that she was a fore-and-aft
schooner. Then our difficulties began, for there were no stars, and
within ten minutes of the time of sunset it fell pitch-dark, from which
moment our course was largely a matter of guesswork. The two girls and
Julius declared that they were so tired and their hands were so raw that
they could do no more; whereupon Mrs Vansittart and Anthea took one
oar, while I laboured on at the other. But by this time I, too, was
weak and trembling with exhaustion to such an extent that I could
scarcely lift the blade of my oar out of the water, while my thirst was
so intolerable that at length I was fairly driven to the proposal that
we should all risk the indulgence in an extra ration of water.

Even this revived me but for a few minutes, and finally I had to confess
to a feeling of such dizziness and confusion that I could no longer be
responsible for the course of the boat, and had to beg Mrs Vansittart
to assume that duty. The next hour was one of absolute torment to me.
My arms felt as though they were about to drop out of their sockets, my
back ached intolerably, every breath I drew was like a knife piercing my
lungs, my head throbbed as though it would burst, and my eyes were
sightless. Then there came a small four-knot breeze out from about
North-North-West, which was too shy a wind for us with our unadjustable
substitute for a sail; and with the knowledge that unless the schooner
happened to be bound in our direction we should miss her, and all our
efforts would be thrown away, I dropped insensible in the cockpit and so
remained for a full hour or more, despite the efforts of the others to
revive me.

When at length I came to myself, a brisk westerly breeze was blowing,
and the boat was scudding before it, with Mrs Vansittart at the
steering oar. The moon was just rising, but so little of her light as
yet came filtering through the veil of cloud which overspread the sky
that it was impossible to see anything more than the