“Indeed, I am not,” said Desmond, producing the bottle from one of the after lockers. It was but a quarter full of rum, but even the small portion mixed with water which Desmond served out was sufficient to restore energy, to the almost exhausted party. The remainder he carefully put by for the next day. After this the watch below lay down and went to sleep.
Tom sat at the helm. Every now and then he told Pat to keep a bright look out.
“Arrah, sir, it will be a hard matter to do that, since I cannot see half a fathom before my nose.”
“There cannot be much use in looking out,” said Billy. “If we were near the land we should have seen it before dark; and as we have not fallen in with a single vessel since we left the Bonins, we are not likely to meet with one to-night.”
“That’s not sound reasoning, Billy,” answered Tom. “We must, until the fog lifts, make more use of our ears than our eyes. We may hear breakers ahead in time to avoid them if we listen attentively.”
They were silent for some time. Tom’s chief object in speaking was to keep his companions awake.
“Billy,” he said, after some time, “did you hear anything?”
“Yes; I fancied I heard a bell strike.”
“More than once?”
“Yes; four times.”