Jim had conquered in the strife between master and man. The old sheik had given orders for the white slaves to be fed.
Jim’s frenzy immediately subsided into an excitement of a different nature.
Seizing a calabash of water, he ran to his brother Bill, and raising him into a sitting posture, he applied the vessel to the man-o’-war’s-man’s lips.
Bill had not strength even to drink, and the water had to be poured down his throat.
Not until all of his companions had drunk, and swallowed a few mouthfuls of the barley-gruel, did Jim himself partake of anything.
The effect of food and water in restoring the energies of a starving man is almost miraculous; and he now congratulated his companions on the success of his scheme.
“It is all right!” he exclaimed. “We have conquered them! We shall not have to reap their harvest! We shall be fed, fattened, and sold, and perhaps be taken to Mogador. We should thank God for bringing us all safely through the trial. Had we yielded, there would have been no hope of ever regaining our liberty!”