"But I didn't come here in a boat," said he.
The men sprang to their feet with white, scared faces.
"No boat!" they cried; "are you, too, shipwrecked?"
"No;" he answered. "I flew here through the air." And then he
explained to them the wonderful electric traveling machine.
But the sailors had no interest whatever in the relation. Their
disappointment was something awful to witness, and one of them laid
his head upon his comrade's shoulder and wept with unrestrained grief,
so weak and discouraged had they become through suffering.
Suddenly Rob remembered that he could assist them, and took the box of
concentrated food tablets from his pocket.
"Eat these," he said, offering one of each to the sailors.
At first they could not understand that these small tablets would be
able to allay the pangs of hunger; but when Rob explained their
virtues the men ate them greedily. Within a few moments they were so
greatly restored to strength and courage that their eyes brightened,
their sunken cheeks flushed, and they were able to converse with their
benefactor with calmness and intelligence.
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