Only once in all that night of horror to Cressingham did he speak, and his voice shook and quivered, and came in choking gasps.
“Challoner, for the love of Christ, kill me and end my misery.”
“Ha! still alive, Captain Cressingham! That is very satisfactory—to me only, of course. Kill you, did you say?” and again his wild demoniac laugh pealed out through the black loneliness of the night. “No, I don't intend to kill you. I want to see you suffer and die by inches. I want you to call upon God to help you, so that I can mock at you, and defy Him to rob me of my vengeance.”
A shuddering moan, and then silence again.
Again the day broke, and as the ocean mists cleared and rolled away, and the grey morning light fell upon the chilled and stiffening form of his enemy, Challoner came up and looked into his face, and spoke to him.
No answer came from his pallid lips, and Challoner thrust his hand under Cressingham's coat and felt his heart. He was still alive, and presently the closed and swollen eyelids opened, and as he met the glance of the man who leaned over him an anguished groan burst from his heart.
Challoner looked at him intently for awhile; then he hoisted the sail again, and, taking the tiller, headed the boat in for the land. The wind had hauled round during the night, and although the boat made a lot of leeway there was no danger now of being blown away from the land altogether.
As the sun mounted higher, and the grey outlines of the shores darkened, he glanced carefully over the sea to the north-west. Nothing in sight there. But as the boat lifted to a sea he saw about five miles to leeward that a big steamer was coming up. In half an hour, unless she changed her course, she would be up to the boat and could not fail to see her.
In five minutes more Cressingham lay in the bottom of the boat unbound, but dying fast, and Challoner was speaking to him.
“Cressingham, you are dying. You know that, don't you? And you know that I am not lying when I tell you that there is a steamer within five miles of us. In less than half an hour she will be up to us.”