"It must be, Sonny, else he wouldn't act so kind of queer. All Cap'n Eph an' I can figger out is that he got squeezed in some way between the timbers of the raft, for it stands to reason he didn't put 'em together very carefully. Oh Sonny, Sonny, if only I hadn't refused to give the poor fellow his breakfast when he asked for it! Somehow I felt last night as if it wasn't right for him to go off to the wreck alone, an' when he came down-stairs this mornin' reg'larly achin' to be off, I lost my temper, an' that's the fact. The worst part of this world is that after you say or do anythin' that's wrong or mean, you can't take it back agin! Jest as likely as not he'd be in better shape now, if he'd had a full stomach when he went away!" Uncle Zenas paced to and fro as if in great mental distress, until Captain Eph stole softly down the stairs, and said: "There's no question but that he's asleep, an' I thought I'd get a cup of coffee, for I'm chilled clean through to the bone. Brace yourself up, Zenas, an' don't take on so 'bout the words you had this mornin'. I'll venture to say that Sammy had forgot all about 'em by the time he went aboard the wreck." Uncle Zenas refused to be comforted for some time; but by alternately scolding and coaxing, Captain Eph succeeded in soothing him to such an extent that he finally ate supper, much to Sidney's relief of mind. All hands stood watch during the night. Sidney felt positive he could not close his eyes in slumber if he went to bed, and Captain Eph did not urge him, understanding full well how the lad felt. Uncle Zenas claimed that it was his right, because of what had happened in the morning, to sit by the side of Mr. Peters, even though it might not be possible to do him any good, and thus it was that the crew remained on duty throughout the hours of darkness. [Illustration: BOON ISLAND.] Shortly after midnight, when he and Sidney were in the watch-room alone, Captain Eph told all he knew concerning the accident. "When we found Sammy it looked to me as if he was pretty far gone; but yet I took note of everything to be seen, with the hope of gettin' an idee as to how the trouble came about. The top part of the raft was made of heavy timbers, which appeared as if they'd been thrown there the last thing because he'd seen that it would be jest as easy to take 'em along, an' he was kind'er between the two biggest. Now it's possible that in movin' 'round he got jammed badly; but Uncle Zenas claims he tried to swim after the dory an' over-worked himself, though I can't figger it out that way, for if he'd started after the boat he'd most likely drowned, in case of strainin' himself." "Hasn't he said anything since you found him?" Sidney asked when the old keeper ceased speaking. "Only after we got him into bed. He groaned now an' then in the dory, an' if it hadn't been for that we'd never been able to make out whether he was dead or alive. Was you lonesome here all by yourself, Sonny?"