reason be sober enough now."

"Now we have got the fish-kettle we will make use of it; but I wish,
Mike, you would return it, as they will otherwise justly accuse us of
stealing it."

"Shure, we have as good a right to it as they have," answered Mike; "it
will be a mighty long time before they want it, and, seeing that their
fire has gone out, even if they get the kettle they can't use it at all
at all."

"When they want fire, we must, however, give it to them," observed Owen;
"because some of them have behaved ill to us, we must not refuse to help
them."

"If they find out that we have got a store of water, they will be coming
to drink it all up, and we shall be left without any," said Mike.

"Still we must try to help them when they require assistance," observed
Owen.

"Would it not be wise to hide our casks of water in the sand?" suggested
Nat; "then if they come and ask for it, we can give them a little at a
time, and they will value it the more."

"A very good idea," said Owen.

Nat's suggestion was forthwith acted upon; and with some staves of one
of the broken casks they dug holes in the higher part of the sand-bank,
in which they concealed two casks of the precious fluid, covering them
carefully over again, so that they were not likely to be discovered.
The water was thus kept cooler than it would have been if left exposed
to the hot sun. This being done, Mike lost no time in cooking a supply
of "his porridge," as he called it, sufficient for their supper and for
the next day.

They all felt the better for the comfortable meal, and lay down to rest,
grateful for the protection hitherto afforded them.

Mike had volunteered to get up every two or three hours to see if the
beacon-fire which they had lit was blazing up.

Owen and Nat had been sleeping for a couple of hours or more, when they
were aroused by Mike's voice.

"Bedad! but the weather has changed entirely, and our beautiful fire has
gone flying away right over the island," he exclaimed.

Owen and Nat started up. A fierce gale was raging, threatening every
instant to carry away their tent; while the sea, which had hitherto only
lapped the edge of the sand-bank, now came foaming up against it in
heavy billows.

"The boat, the boat!" cried Owen. "Our first care must be to secure
her, if she is not knocked to pieces already. She is of more importance
than the tent or anything else." They hurried off to where the boat
lay, some little