by Mayne Reid
CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR.
A NOVEL DRINKING-CUP.
Notwithstanding that it was all a dream, and that no crab could possiblyhave crept up my arm--notwithstanding that I was now awake, and knew Ihad been only dreaming about it--I could not help fancying that a crab_actually had been crawling over me_--a crab or some other creature. Ifelt that peculiar tingling sensation along my arm and upon my breast,which was quite open and bare, that might be produced by the claws ofsome small animal creeping over one, and I could not help thinking thatthere had been _something_!
So convinced was I of this, that on awaking I flung out my armsmechanically, and groped all over the spread broadcloth, and around theedges of my lurking-place, expecting to lay them upon some _livingcreature_!
Half asleep, I still believed it _was_ a crab; but as my senses becameclearer, I reasoned upon the improbability of there being one in such aplace. And yet, why not? A crab might very well find lodgment in thehold of a ship: it might have been brought aboard in some strange way--among the ballast--or possibly carried aboard by some of the sailors,out of curiosity; it may have been abandoned to its fate, and left tohide itself among the numerous corners and crevices which are foundamong the timbers of a vessel's hold? It might procure sustenance inthe bilge-water, or in the ballast rubbish, or perhaps, like thechameleon, crabs could exist on air?
I had such thoughts, but only for a few moments after awaking; and as Ireasoned further on the matter, I abandoned them. It could only be mydream that had made me think of crabs at all. But for that, the thoughtof such a creature would not have entered my mind. There could havebeen no crab, else I should have laid my hands upon it; for I had lostno time in groping over the surface of my cloth carpeting--every inch ofit--and I found nothing there. There were but two crevices leading outof my cell, by which a crab of any considerable size could have enteredor escaped; and I had felt these places at the very first moment. Soslow a traveller could not have passed through either of them in soshort a time! No, there could have been no crab; and yet there _wassomething_, certainly--something had crawled over me. I could not beconvinced of the contrary.
I lay for a long time pondering over the subject of my dream. Theunpleasant feeling which it had occasioned me soon passed away. It wasvery natural I should have dreamt what I did, since it was almost thesame thing I had been thinking of during the continuance of the storm.
On examining my watch, I found that I had considerably overslept myself,having been unconscious for nearly sixteen hours! This prolongedslumber was the result of my having been kept so long awake by thestorm, and the sickness that it had occasioned me.
I now felt more hungry than I had done for days, and at once set aboutsatisfying that appetite. Strive as I would, I could not resist thetemptation of eating more than my allotted ration, and I did not leaveoff till I had eaten four of my precious biscuits. I had been told thatnothing creates so keen an appetite as a turn of sea-sickness, and Ifound this to be truth. Indeed, I felt as if I could have consumed thewhole of my stock, and the four biscuits I ate scarcely took the edgewell off my hunger. Nothing but the dread of running short hindered mefrom eating three times as many.
I was also in great thirst, and swallowed far more than my allowance ofwater; but I was not so careful of this, as I believed it would be quitesure to last me to the end of the voyage. One thing about the watertroubled me not a little. Each time that I went to take a drink, aconsiderable waste took place, in consequence of my having no vessel todraw it in; and, moreover, to drink from the hole I had made wasaltogether an unsatisfactory way of quenching my thirst. As soon as thepeg was drawn out, a strong jet would shoot forth, to which I applied mymouth. But I could not swallow it as fast as it came, and it was sure--after taking away my breath, and half choking me--to squirt all over myface, wetting my clothes and everything else about me, before I couldget the stopper back into its place.
If I only had had a vessel to draw it in--a cup or anything?
I thought of using one of my buskins, for I had no need for themotherwise; but I felt some qualms about making this use of them.
I should not have hesitated to have drunk out of them, or any othervessel, when pressed by thirst previous to my having tapped the butt;but now that I had water in plenty, the case was different. Still, Icould get one of them sufficiently clean for the purpose. Better,thought I, to waste a little water in washing one of them, than lose alarge quantity every time I went to drink.
I was about to put this design into execution, when a better idea cameinto my head--that was to make a drinking-cup out of a piece ofbroadcloth. This was altogether better. I had already observed thatthe cloth was waterproof--at least, the water that was spilt from thebutt appeared to lie upon it without passing through--for I had beenobliged to shake it off on each occasion. A piece of the cloth,therefore, formed into a cup shape, would be likely enough to serve mypurpose; and accordingly I resolved to make me such a vessel.
It needed only to cut a broad strip with my knife, roll it up, as if Iwas intending it for a funnel--taking care to fold it of severalthicknesses of the cloth. When rolled, I bound it in its place with afragment of the thong from my buskins, and I thus succeeded in making mea drinking-vessel, which would, and _did_, serve me as well as if it hadbeen of best china or glass. I was henceforth enabled to take a drinkmore to my satisfaction, and without wasting the precious fluid uponwhich my life depended.