weakness as forbearance towards the softer sex. These two men would only tolerate women if they made themselves useful, Dr Fernandez being a callous monster and Dennis MacBride a primitive savage of the lowest order, who would as likely become a cannibal as not if necessity drove him to that point; he was troubled with no compunction, no remorse, and no memory for the evil he had committed.
Two instincts or cravings roused them at daybreak from their long stupor, the desire to eat and the desire for heat. They were cold and hungry.
To get warmth they would have to move about and make the blood circulate, since they had not the wherewithal to make a fire. To eat they would have to go forth and seek it. In fact, they were reduced to the condition of the original savage man, without having the advantage of his education, for beyond their pocket-knives they had no weapons of defence or offence. They were stranded and beggared Anarchists, without a single weapon of destruction, and no society to war against; therefore they were just like ordinary mortals who have lost their occupation, ordinary mortals out of work, or snakes with their fangs drawn.
It was a gloomy outlook indeed, and this they all felt as they rose stiffly to their feet and glanced blankly round them and into each other's wan faces. They regretted exceedingly the destruction of that fine steamship with all that it contained. Captain Nelson could not have regretted it more. They mourned also for their lost comrades, not out of affection or pity, but rather that it would not have seemed so dreary if more of them had been together. Six people seemed a miserable company to start the world afresh; two would have been almost as bad as one.
