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Temeraire at first wondered what Rolandinto the open hole, and the Allegiance was sliding slowly and gracefully beneath the surface

"Oh!" he said, "but how are we to save her?"

"There is no hope of that," Laurence said, locking himself onto the harness with slow, precise"Teile to take up whatever survivors they can, and ill go after the supply: only you can hover over the ship"

Laurence was very urgent they should work quickly, but it did not speed matters at all that most of the sailors, quite stupidly, tried to shen Iskierka or Kulingile reached to pick thes only off the dragondeck--so down on a strap fros into his netting

Gong Su had ed somehow to cliether by their laces slung around his neck, with a thin oilskin pouch He stood helping a still-drink-addled O’Dea balance on the ship’s figurehead--a wos, which Te hidden beneath the dragondeck; she presently pointed al Su pulled himself up Temeraire’s side, when put onto the harness "No, sir," Temeraire heard him say, when Laurence asked him about Fellowes, "I am sorry, but I did not see him; all the lower decks are full of smoke, and there are many men dead"

"It is only to be expected, sure," O’Dea said, and hiccoughed "The judgh," Laurence said: that was all he said, but O’Dea subsided, abashed, and hs into his hand

"Should I try for some of those water-casks, sir?" Roland called up

"Tell her no," Laurence said to Teht to drink whichever of theile do the same; and you had better eat those sheep"

"Those fellows in the belly-netting will be thirsty very soon," Temeraire pointed out, "and so will you, Laurence"

"Let Roland light along a couple of canteens, and as for those bastards, they ," Laurence said, and it was not only his altered voice which ht as may be, my dear: ant land sooner than water"

An hour passed, dragging up supplies and a fewby "We aren’t pulling anyone else up," Granby called over wearily; his arainst his body "Not alive, anyway: the water is too cold We had better go"

"Set your course northeast," Laurence said, "and keep as far apart froht of one another, so we ile have lanterns for the night"

It was very strange and lonely to fly away froood, out across the open ocean with no destination She was nearly all beneath the water now and sinking ondeck yet jutted out into the sky The ship’s boats were pulling away, crammed with sailors They could not keep in company with the back and forth Lieutenant Burrough was in command of the launch, and Lieutenant Paris, a boy of fifteen, in charge of the one cutter which had survived, with Midshipman Darcy to assist him

"You do not see Riley anywhere, do you?" Laurence asked quietly, after they had spoken with the boats

"No--" Temeraire said, after a moment Riley had fed him that enor Tery ever in his life as those first few days, and Laurence had been asleep at the time--Riley had come down to the cabin with the fish himself because most of the sailors were too afraid--

"No," Temeraire said "No, Laurence, I do not see hilanced back, his face was set and grie distant; he only nodded, and turned to ask Mrs Peo in the boats?" She had been retrieved along with Mr Hammond from the bow cabins: they had pushed out aand waved her spare petticoat to attract notice, and been pulled up by a rope "We can lower you down to them, and take off one or two of the men, if they are crowded"

"Thank you, sir; I should rather stay aboard," she said

"You ons can stay aloft at most two days--perhaps three--"

"As I understand it, there is very little chance of a boatlandfall, either, from these latitudes," she said "If it were done, t’ell it were done quickly, I think"

"Of course you arein one of those boats," Te a lastShen Li flew all the long way fro the way Laurence ht be pessi to sink in an ignominious fashion, without even a battle for excuse; he would certainly not drop before they found land

"I still think we ought to pull her up," Iskierka gruiance once oods had been in the hold, and Granby’s coat was entirely spoilt That did not cheer Temeraire precisely, because one could not be happy that anything so very nice was ruined, or going to the bottom of the ocean for no-one but sea-serpents to enjoy, but it was so that Iskierka could not shoay anymore, and meanwhile Laurence’s own for, with Teratulate hi detailed Roland to keep them safe, and on the deck

"We have already tried, when she did not have soill do any better a second tio"