a small locker close to the ladder, and putting
in his hand found a candle and tinder-box. A light was soon struck; and
they approached the berth whence the groans had proceeded. It is not
surprising that they should have started back with horror. The dim
light of the candle fell on the ghastly features of a human being, who,
except that his eyes moved wildly, might have been taken for a corpse.
His beard was long and tangled, and blood, which had flowed from a
fearful gash across his brow, stained the blankets in which he was
wrapped. His eyes were staring wildly, his mouth was open. He seemed
at the point of death. Yet he was not dying of starvation, for within
his reach hung a bottle of water and a bag of biscuits. Why, however,
he had been deserted was a mystery which he himself seemed incapable of
solving. In vain Harry and David asked him. Not a word did he speak in
answer to their questions. He was, however, conscious of their
presence, they thought, by the way his eyes followed them as they moved
about the cabin. Had they discovered him before, they might have been
of some assistance to him, but they could not now even attempt to move
him into another berth. David, however, undertook to get some better
food from the cabin. Harry did not feel altogether comfortable when
left alone with the dying man. He looked so horrible, and the groans
which he uttered were so fearful. David seemed to be absent a long
time. He did not like to leave the wretched man, or he would have gone
to look for him. What could have become of David? The sea every now
and then washed with a loud sound across the deck. Could he have been
carried away by it? How dreadful the thought! He went back to the
dying man, and stood over him, hoping that he might return, to
consciousness. Suddenly the man sat up, and pointing with his thin hand
across the cabin, uttered a loud shriek, and sinking back was a corpse.
The young midshipman was left alone in the dark fore peak of the sinking
vessel. The sad thought came across him that perhaps he might be the
only living person on board. Old Jefferies was apparently on the point
of death, and perhaps David had been washed overboard. As he could be
of no use where he was, he determined to ascertain the worst, and
climbed up on deck, immediately closing the hatch again. He looked
about him. David was not to be seen. Even during the time he had been
below matters had grown worse--the