e it's not
them!"

"Speak low, lad!" said the sailor, interrupting him, "only in whispers.
If they be near, the best thing for us are to keep quiet. They can't
see us no more than we can them; anyhow, till it come mornin'. If we
could hear the sound again so as to make out the direction. I didn't
notice that."

"I did," interrupted William. "Both the voices I heard were out this
way."

The boy pointed to leeward.

"To leuart, you think they wur?"

"I'm sure they came from that quarter."

"That be curious, hows'ever," said the sailor. "If't be them on the big
raft they must a passed us, or else the wind must a veered round, for
we've been to leuart o' them ever since partin' wi' 'em. Could the wind
a gone round I wonder? Like enough. It be queer,--and it's blowing
from the west in this part o' the Atlantic! 'Tan't possible to say what
point it be in, hows'ever,--not without a compass. There bean't even
the glimmer o' a star in the sky; and if there wur we couldn't make much
o' it; since the north star bean't seen down in these latitudes. Thee
be sure the sound come from leuart?"

"O, I am quite sure of it, Ben; the voices came up the wind."

"Then we'd best go the same way and gie 'em as wide a berth as possible.
Look alive, lad! Let's down wi' them flitches o' the shark-meat: for
it's them that's driftin' us along. We'll take a spell at the oars, and
afore daylight we may get out o' hearin' o' the voices, and out of sight
o' them as has been utterin' o' them."

Both rose simultaneously to their feet, and commenced taking down the
slices of half-dried shark-flesh, and placing them upon the
sail-cloth,--with the intention, as the sailor had counselled it, to
unship the oars that had been doing duty as masts, and make use of them
in their proper manner.

While engaged in this operation both remained silent,--at intervals
stopping in their work to listen.

They had got so far as to clear away the suspended flitches, and were
about unfastening the cords where they were looped around the upright
oars, when another cord, attached to one of the latter, caught their
attention. It was the piece of rope which closed the mouth of their
tarpauling water-bag, and held the latter in such a position as to keep
the "cask" from leaking.

Fortunately they were doing things in a deliberate manner. If they had
been acting otherwise, and had rashly "unstepped" the mast to which that
piece of rope was attached,