of this probability, the idea of returning to the dead whale was
scarce entertained, or only to be abandoned on the instant.

Cheerless were the thoughts of the Catamarans as they sat pondering upon
that important question,--how they were to find food,--cheerless as the
clouds of night that were now rapidly descending over the surface of the
sea, and shrouding them in sombre gloom.

Never before had they felt so dispirited, and yet never had they been so
near being relieved from their misery. It was the darkest hour of their
despondency, and the nearest to their deliverance; as the darkest hour
of the night is that which precedes the day.

CHAPTER NINETY SEVEN.

A CHEERING CUP.

They made no attempt to move from the spot upon which the sun saw them
at setting.

As yet they had not restored the mast with its sail; and they had no
motive for toiling at the oar. All the little way they might make by
rowing was not worth the exertion of making it; and indeed it had now
become a question whether there was any use in attempting to continue
their westward course. There was not the slightest chance of reaching
land before starvation could overtake them; and they might as well
starve where they were. Death in that shape would not be more endurable
in one place than another; and it would make no difference under what
meridian they should depend the last few minutes of their lives.

Into such a state of mind had these circumstances now reduced them,--a
stupor of despair rather than the calmness of resignation.

After some time had been passed in this melancholy mood,--passed under
darkness and in sombre silence,--a slight circumstance partially aroused
them. It was the voice of the sailor, proposing "supper!" One hearing
him might have supposed that he too had taken leave of his senses. Not
so, nor did his companions so judge him. They knew what he meant by the
word, and that the assumed tone of cheerfulness in which he pronounced
it had been intended to cheer them. Ben's proposal was not without some
significance; though to call it "supper" of which it was designed they
should partake was making a somewhat figurative use of the phrase.

No matter; it meant something,--something to supply the place of a
supper,--if not so substantial as they would have wished, at least
something that would not only prolong their lives, but for a while
lighten their oppressed spirits. It meant a cup of Canary.

They had not