I was hastily refilling it, when the gurgling sound
struck upon the ears of my companions, who rushing down like the
fainting animals who hear the music of the fountain in the desert,
poured tumultuously into the cabin, and in spite of all my remonstrances
to leave me sufficient for the completion of my desires, seized upon the
flask in my hand, as well as upon all those that remained, emptied them
in a few seconds with their copious draughts, and returned laughing and
shouting to the deck above.
The water which I had already drunk produced one good effect; it
hardened my heart for the time, and I fell into a sort of stoical
indifference, which lasted many hours. I then repaired on deck, where I
found all my companions changed into blue chalcedony--not one alive. The
heavens, too, had changed; clouds obscured the sun, the wind was rising,
and ever and anon a mournful gust blew through the shrouds; the birds
were screaming on the wing, and the water line of the black horizon was
fringed with a narrow ridge of foam. The thunder rolled at a distance,
and I perceived that convulsion of the elements was at hand. The sails
were all set, and without assistance I could not reduce them; but I was
indifferent to my fate. The lightning now darted in every direction, and
large drops of rain pattered on the deck. With the means of existence,
the desire of life returned: I spread out the spare sails, and as the
torrents descended, and the vessel bowed to her gunwale in submission of
the blast, I filled the empty casks.
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