The ropes were arranged, and directly after I was again descending; and this time the dread did not seem so oppressive, for I did not feel such horror of the mephitic gas at the bottom, since it seemed to me that the excitement--the state of my nerves--sustained me, and I shouted to them to lower faster. On reaching the bottom, the man had not moved his position, and without leaving the bucket, to whose rope I had bound myself with a silk handkerchief I slipped off the noose again, and secured it round the other's body. The same glassy, dull stare--the same immobility of countenance--the same corpse-like aspect as seen in the gloom, and then, with a cry of wild joy, I shrieked--"Up; up;" but it seemed as though we should never reach the surface as we swung and spun about, and once, to my horror, I saw the rope was slipping over the man's shoulders; and it was only by clasping him tightly in my arms I saved him from falling. Daylight and willing hands at length; and then I staggered as I was unfastened, and all seemed to swim round as I fainted away. On coming to I found myself on the grass by the side of the two men, who were alive, as I could hear by their stertorous breathing. Kneeling by me was old Dr Scott, looking up at Brown, who had evidently just spoken. "Mephitic air, sir," said the doctor, "pooh; as drunk as Pharaoh's sow!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The well was finally cleaned out, and the recovered watch as well; while, by way of consolation for my misapplied energy, I could congratulate myself upon the discovery of a hidden vein of philanthropy in my constitution. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. ON THE GREAT DEEP. The creaking and groaning of the timbers, the tossing and plunging of the ship, and the heavy beating of the waves upon her sides, tended to drive away sleep, without the accessories of pale and anxious faces, wringing hands, and here and there a kneeling form and supplicating murmur. Now and then came a heavy crash, and the good ship shook and quivered beneath the tons of water poured sweeping along the deck; and once the news was somehow circulated among the helpless passengers, that three of the sailors had been swept overboard, and that the life-buoy, with its blazing light, had been cut adrift, when as it floated away, a man was seen clinging to it, with the glare shining upon his pale and agonised face. And we knew that it was but to prolong his torture, for in such a storm no boat could go to his aid--that he would cling there for a while, and then would come the end.