Instantly he leaped to his feet and ran into the control room. He turned a valve that dumped some water ballast, and then he started the motor. As soon as we were under way, he had no difficulty rising.

The cause of our descent was obvious enough; in the chill of the night air the gas in the bag had contracted, losing buoyancy. I realized that this was something that must occur every night and necessitate one of us constantly remaining on watch. I broached the subject to Perry.

When he replied he appeared more normal. "We'll have to do something," he admitted. "I neglected to take this factor into account, nor did I figure on your weight either. If I wasn't afraid you'd turn back, we'd take turns at the controls and keep under way all night; at thirty miles an hour this motor could run forever, and as long as we're moving we can keep altitude."

I was convinced by this time that Perry would never consent to turn back, and though I doubted the ability of the frail craft to cross the Pacific I realized that in the attempt lay our only chance for escape from a watery grave. If I ran east while I was at the controls and Perry ran west during his trick we'd never get anywhere, and so my reply was governed by these deductions.

"I won't turn back, Perry," I assured him.

"How do I know I can trust you?" he questioned suspiciously.

"You ought to know; you've known me all my life."

"That's right," he admitted. "I never knew you to break your word. Will you give it to me now that you'll keep the course I tell you to while you are at the controls?"

"Certainly; it's the only chance I have of getting out of this alive, and a mighty slim chance at that."

"Come here, and I'll show you all you need to know; in an emergency you can always wake me up if I'm asleep."

"Now you've got to do a little promising," I said.

"What do you mean?"

"You've had it in your head to kill me. You've got to promise to lay off that stuff; I can't handle the controls and watch you out of the back of my head; and I've got to get a little sleep, too."

That strange light came into his eyes again. "Don't worry," he said as suavely as you please. "I was a little sore at first, but I've gotten over that. You'll be perfectly safe as far as I'm concerned. "

Perhaps he trusted me, but I wasn't any too sure of him. "It wouldn't pay you to kill me now, anyway," I reminded him; "you need me. If anything happened to me, you'd go into the sea some night while you were asleep."

He smiled condescendingly. "That would be true of an ordinary man, but I am no ordinary man. Napoleon required but four hours sleep a day; if it were necessary, I could do without any sleep, indefinitely."

So that was that; there remained nothing further to discuss on that score. But it certainly didn't improve my position. If he believed that he didn't need me he might easily grasp the first opportunity to rid himself of me, for both the additional weight that I represented as well as the fact that I consumed both food and water constituted me a definite menace to his own safety. I determined to watch him carefully and sleep lightly.

For the following several days nothing eventful occurred; the motor plugged right along and the northeast trades helped us on our way. Perry was in pretty good spirits most of the time; he even showed me how to take our bearings and taught me some of the other intricacies of navigation that were to stand me in good stead later. Occasionally he'd get to thinking about the fortune I'd dumped overboard and then he'd be pretty glum for a while, but what really griped him more than the loss of the swag was the fact that there had been twelve cartons of cigarettes in one of the suitcases I had jettisoned.

Between us we had had just thirty-two cigarettes when we took stock the morning of the second day, and Perry had been accustomed to smoking that many at least between suns. I enjoy a smoke pretty well myself occasionally, but I knew that I wouldn't suffer any without them; so I quit smoking entirely and saved my cigarettes for Perry, thinking that they might calm his nerves; and he cut himself down to three a day. For a while he seemed quite grateful to me for what he was pleased to call my sacrifice.

Each day I noticed that the ship seemed to be losing buoyancy; she lost altitude, but it was really not so serious as to cause me any alarm. Perry said that the consumption of oil, fuel, and food would compensate for any slight loss of gas that might be occurring. I took my turns at the controls; and during my hours off at night slept fitfully with one eye open, for I felt none too sure of Perry. And so the hours ran into days, and day followed day.

We saw nothing but the vast, sullen ocean rolling, rolling, rolling over the hidden mysteries of its gloomy depths; not a ship; not a sign of life.