Curtis stood leaning against the mast, with the boatswain by his side; their eyes seemed never for a moment to cease to watch the brig, but their countenances clearly expressed the varying emotions that passed through their minds.

Not a word was uttered, nor was the silence broken, until the carpenter exclaimed, in accents of despair,-- "She's putting about!" All started up: some to their knees, others to their feet, The boatswain dropped a frightful oath.

The ship was still nine miles away, and at such a distance it was impossible for our signal to be seen; our tiny raft, a mere speck upon the waters, would be lost in the intense irradiation of the sunbeams.

If only we could be seen, no doubt all would be well; no captain would have the barbarous inhumanity to leave us to our fate; but there had been no chance; only too well we knew that we had not been within the range of sight.
"My friends," said Curtis, "we must make a fire; it is our last and only chance." Some planks were quickly loosened and thrown into a heap upon the fore part of the raft.

They were damp and troublesome to light; but the very dampness made the smoke more dense, and ere long a tall column of dusky fumes was rising straight upwards in the air.