This the boy drank off with feverish haste, betraying to the others the torments of thirst he must have been suffering the whole afternoon. The milky juice put new strength into him, and declaring vehemently that he felt all right, he wanted to get up and take the steering-oar again; but this the others would not allow, and he had to remain lying where he was. As the sun dropped below the horizon, a ripple was perceived upon the water right ahead. "Wind at last!" cried Loyola, "and we'll get it first." Jack and Tari put all their strength into a last spurt, whilst Bill and Broncho hastily stepped the mast and hoisted the lugsail, Loyola taking the helm. Then darkness, the breeze, and Jack's weird eyesight sprang upon them together. Gaily the tired rover pulled in his oar and looked eagerly about him; then he bent down, and by the light of the bright stars examined Jim's wound. "I see you've been in good hands, Jim," he remarked, referring to Loyola's skilful bandaging. "It's the touch of her fingers makes me feel better," whispered the boy, with a quick blush. "Same here," declared Jack, with a curious smile. Then a sudden impulse took him, and, stepping aft, he looked deep into the woman's wavering eyes; and there must have been some magic in that one look of Jack's, for a flood of dark crimson crept slowly over Loyola's face. For one brief second she felt his strong arm round her shoulders and his lips against her lips; then, with the low, whispered words, "Bravest and dearest!" he turned and joined Bill and Broncho, who were sweeping the horizon with the _Ocmulgee's_ glass, searching for the _Black Adder_. CHAPTER XIII "PAPEETE" Loyola sank back, shaking all over, her eyes gleaming with a wonderfully tender light, and fell into a deep reverie, which was rudely awakened by the flapping of the lugsail. She had let the whaleboat come up into the wind. "Now, Lolie," said Jack, stepping aft, "I'm going to relieve the wheel. You're tired out and must lie down and rest by Jim." "Why, Jack, I've been asleep all the afternoon, and you've been rowing all day in the blazing sun." "Well, anyhow, child, I'm going to steer now; but if you don't want to lie down, you can sit beside me," said the rolling-stone craftily. This the woman was nothing loth to do, and slipping her hand into his, she nestled up against him with a perfect feeling of contentment, notwithstanding the fact that Dago Charlie still hung doggedly in their wake. Presently a flare flamed out from the schooner's boat, against the bright light of which her men showed like little carved images of jet, outlined in red. "Coyotes!" exclaimed Broncho, "he's afire!" "Burning a flare to show the _Black Adder_ where we are," explained Jack. "It'll take the blighter h'all night to come up with us now," declared Bill triumphantly. "An' his boat ain't got the legs this whaleboat has. The luck's comin' our side o' the deck at last."