"It is bad enough as it is. All has not ended with the disappearance of the vessel."
The sailor shot a sharp glance at Brand.
"You can't be thinkin' anyone was to blame—" he commenced. But Brand waved aside the fancied imputation.
"Blame!" he said. "With a broken shaft! In that whirlwind! No, no. I sent for you to talk over the new difficulty which has to be faced. There are food, water and fuel here for three men for two months. If you do a little sum you will find that the available stores on the basis of full rations will maintain eighty-one people for two days and a quarter."
"But we're only six miles from the mainland." Mr. Emmett had not yet grasped the true meaning of the figures.
"I have been here more than once for six weeks at a stretch, when, for all the assistance we could receive, we might as well have been within the Arctic Circle."
Again the sailor jerked his thumb towards the reef.
"Is it as bad as all that?" he queried anxiously.
"Yes."
"But six weeks. Good Lord!" Mr. Emmett had done the little sum.