The sea continued smooth and the wind fair, and the boats ran swiftly across the ocean. Twice a-day the cutter came up alongside for her supply of water. It was a small quantity, little more than sufficient to moisten the throats of the voyagers after each meal; still they were thankful to obtain even that. Frequently, as they saw the clouds gathering in the sky, they longed for rain, that they might obtain a larger amount of the necessary fluid. Though the rain might wet them to the skin, and chill their bodies, they could endure anything, they thought, for the sake of more water. Willy often dreamed he was on shore, wandering near sparkling cascades and clear running streams, but that somehow or other he could never reach the water to obtain a draught. Probably the dreams of others of the parties were of a similar character. Day after day passed by; the wind was very light, and the voyage promised to be longer than Harry had anticipated. The doctor looked anxiously at his stock of fuel. "I am afraid our boiler won't hold out much longer," he observed to Willy. "Ask Shafto when he hopes to sight these Auckland Islands he talks of. We have not passed them, I hope." "No fear of that," answered Willy. "Shafto says that we are still nearly two hundred miles from them." "Two hundred miles!" murmured the doctor. "That is a long distance, should the wind come foul; but we must keep the pot boiling,--there's no doubt about that." The following day, the doctor told Shafto that he thought it would be prudent to reduce the allowance of water. "We can exist with very little, and though that may be painful, it is far better than going without it altogether," he remarked. Several of the people murmured when they received their reduced allowance; even some of the women declared they must have as much as they had been accustomed to; and two or three of the seamen and soldiers, who had hitherto behaved well, exclaimed that they would not be deprived of their rights. Harry's anxieties were greatly increased. Mrs Rumbelow, however, came to the rescue. "What is that you say, men?" she exclaimed. "Are you not able to go through what these poor ladies--who have been accustomed to gentle nurture all their lives--endure without complaining? You should be ashamed of yourselves. I'll soon show the next man I hear talking in that way that I have not been in the regiment for thirty years without learning my duty; so look out. But I think better of you, boys. If I was to ask you now, you would, I am sure, be ready to give up half your allowance to any of the poor women who might require it more than you do!"