what happened to the four men on the lady vein

Edward Prendick now narrates, and he explains that he is one of the four men thought to have made it to a lifeboat after the Lady Vain sank, although he asserts that there were in fact only three men; the fourth drowned attempting to join them.They drift for six days until they can stand the starvation and thirst no longer, and one of them, Helmar, broaches the subject of cannibalism. Although the sailor agrees to draw lots for it, Prendick steadfastly refuses until the morning of the seventh day. He finally concedes, and the lot falls on the sailor, who reneges and wrestles with Helmar. The two of them fall overboard in the struggle. On the eighth day, a ship rescues Prendick, who by this point is so addled that he no longer remembers any particulars of the incident.