They were damp and troublesome to light;
but the very dampness made the smoke more dense, and ere long a
tall column of dusky fumes was rising straight upwards in the
air. If darkness should come on before the brig was completely
out of view, the flames we hoped might still be visible. But the
hours passed on; the fire died out; and yet no signs of help.
The temper of resignation now deserted me entirely; faith, hope,
confidence--all vanished from my mind, and like the boatswain, I
swore long and loudly. A gentle hand was laid upon my arm, and
turning round I saw Miss Herbey with her finger pointing to the
sky. I could stand it no longer, but gliding underneath the tent
I hid my face in my hands and wept aloud.
Meanwhile the brig had altered her tack, and was moving slowly to
the east. Three hours later and the keenest eye could not have
discerned her top-sails above the horizon.
CHAPTER XLIV.
JANUARY 15th.--After this further shattering of our excited hopes
death alone now stares us in the face; slow and lingering as that
death may be, sooner or later it must inevitably come.
To-day some clouds that rose in the west have brought us a few
puffs of wind; and in spite of our prostration, we appreciate the
moderation, slight as it is, in the temperature. To my parched
throat the air seemed a little less trying but it is now seven
days since the boatswain took his haul of fish, and during that
period we have eaten nothing even Andre Letourneur finished
yesterday the last morsel of the biscuit which his sorrowful and
self-denying father had entrusted to my charge.
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