They had drifted far out in the Atlantic, but not in the direct line hitherto of the many steamers which continually cross the great dividing waters which lie between the Old World and the New.
Jack had ample time for thought, as the long weary hours went by. But a stupor was fast creeping over him, and everything became dreamlike and unreal. Even the images of his mother and Joy, which had been so vivid, grew taint and indistinct, and he was scarcely conscious, when a loud "Ahoy!" fell on his ear.
He started up, and there, at last, was a boat alongside of theirs.
"Wake up, boy!" said a cheery voice. "What's happened, eh?"
"Oh, Colley, Colley!" Jack cried, "we are saved, we are saved!" And then from excess of joy and emotion he fell prone upon the prostrate figure of the old sailor.
"A man, a boy, and a dog," said one of the boat's crew.
"Half-starved, I declare! Look alive, mates, and let's get 'em aboard our ship as quick as may be. I told you this object we saw was a craft of some sort, though you were so slow to believe me. A happy thing for these poor creatures I got the boat lowered."
In another quarter of an hour two pairs of sturdy arms were pulling the boat and those in it to the good ship Claudia, bound for the islands of the Southern Seas.