Willy did as Peppo suggested and his thirst became easier to bear.  Captain Brown who happened to be standing by and overheard this conversation most heartily approved of the plan.  Since the rescue from the shipwreck he had been a different man.  Redfox no longer held him in his power; drinking and gambling had no attractions for him and he turned away from “his bad angel” in disgust.  His sins and frivolity he repented most sincerely, and with tears in his eyes, he said to the boys, “If only you and the rest can be saved I will give my life.—­O Lord, Lord, take my life as atonement for the past,” he prayed aloud.

Next day Lihoa’s prophecy came true.  The heavens clouded over and there came a frightful thunderstorm.  The rain poured down.  The thirsty men caught it by spreading out the sails and soon the empty casks were filled.  Its coming gave relief to dire distress but brought with it a new misery.  The water soaked and rotted the sun-dried wood of the wreck, which the Chinese had made into small huts, until fever broke out to add to the suffering caused by scurvy.  The coming of the fever more than anything else caused the Chinese to lose their faith in the God of the Golden Fish.

“Neither by discord, the sea, nor thirst, concerning which our lying priest warned us, have we lost a single one of our number, but now disease rages until our men die like flies,” said Lihoa.

From this time on all of the sick were willing to be baptized—­not by the Captain but by the two boys, Willy and Peppo.  The Captain became very ill and Willy nursed him.  Redfox was taken with fever, and in his delirium would trust no one to wait upon him.  Constantly he cried “Water! water!” then would not take it when offered him.  Willy gave him a glass and he threw it at his head screaming, “Poison! poison!  The boy wants to poison me!” One morning he was gone.  His companions searched for him in vain, and finally recognized his agonizing cries from the opposite shore where the cannibals were torturing him.  In his delirium he had swum across the narrow inlet which separated them from their enemies; his heartrending cries told of the reception accorded him.  “Oh, if he had only repented!” cried the boys with a shudder, as they listened.

* * * * * *

The rainy season had been over for weeks and again the water in the casks was running short.  When it was gone, what then?—­Men looked death in the face and prepared for it.  Of the crew barely a dozen were left; and of the Chinamen not more than fifty, and all of them were suffering from scurvy.  They wandered about looking more like ghosts than human beings, and now still another danger threatened.  For a long time they had noticed that the cannibals were preparing to attack them.

“How shall we protect ourselves?” asked the Captain; “if they really do fall upon us, we are lost.  Willy go have Peppo tell his people who have not been baptized that it is high time that they attend to the matter, and then climb the mast to see if you can make out what the cannibals are doing.  We will sell our hides as dearly as possible.”