THE STORM.

A storm in almost all circumstances is a grand and solemnising sight,

one that forces man to feel his own weakness and his Maker's might and

majesty. But a storm at sea in southern latitudes, where the winds are

let loose with a degree of violence that is seldom or never experienced

in the temperate zones, is so terrific that no words can be found to

convey an adequate idea of its appalling ferocity.

The storm that at this time burst upon the little sandbank on which the

shipwrecked crew had found shelter, was one of the most furious,

perhaps, that ever swept the seas. The wind shrieked as if it were

endued with life, tore up the surface of the groaning deep into masses

and shreds of foam, which it whirled aloft in mad fury, and then

dissipated into a thin blinding mist that filled the whole atmosphere,

so that one could scarcely see a couple of yards beyond the spot on

which he stood. The hurricane seemed to have reached its highest point

soon after sunset that night, and a ray of light from the moon struggled

ever and anon through the black hurtling clouds, as if to reveal to the

cowering seamen the extreme peril of their situation. The great ocean

was lashed into a wide sheet of foam, and the presence of the little

isle in the midst of that swirling waste of water was indicated merely

by a slight circle of foam that seemed whiter than the rest of the sea.

The men sat silently in their frail hut, listening to the howling blast

without. A feeling of awe crept over the whole party, and the most

careless and the lightest of heart among the crew of the _Red Eric_

ceased to utter his passing jest, and became deeply solemnised as the

roar of the breakers filled his ear, and reminded him that a thin ledge

of rock alone preserved him from instant destruction.

"The wind has shifted a point," said the captain, who had just risen and

opened a chink of the rude door of the hut in order to look out. "I see

that the keel of the boat is all fast and the planking beside it. The

coral rock shelters it just now; but if the wind goes on shifting I fear

it will stand a poor chance."

"We'd better go out and give it a hextra fastening," suggested Mr

Millons.

"Not yet. There's no use of exposing any of the men to the risk of

being blown away. The wind may keep steady, in which case I've no fear

for it."

"I dun know," said Rokens, who sat beside Ailie, close to the embers of

their fire, with a glowing cinder from which he re-lighted his pipe for

at least the twentieth time that night. "You never can tell wot's

a-goin' to turn up. I'll go out, cap'en, if ye like, and see that all's

fast."

"Perhaps you're right, Tim; you may make a bolt across to it, and heave

another rock or two on the planking if it seems to require it."

The seaman rose, and putting aside his pipe, threw off his coat, partly

in order that he might present as small a surface to the wind as

possible, and partly that he might have a dry garment to put on when he

returned. As he opened the little door of the hut a rude gust of wind

burst in, filling the apartment with spray, and scattering the embers of

the fire.

"I feared as much," said the captain, as he and the men started up to

gather together the pieces of glowing charcoal; "that shows the wind's

shifted another point; if it goes round two points more it'll smash our

boat to pieces. Look sharp, Tim."

"Lean well against the wind, me boy," cried Briant, in a warning voice.

Thus admonished, Rokens issued forth, and dashed across the open space

that separated the hut from the low ledge of coral rock behind which the

keel of the intended boat and its planking were sheltered. A very few

minutes sufficed to show Tim that all was fast, and to enable him to

place a few additional pieces of rock above the heap in order to keep it

down. Then he prepared to dart back again to the hut, from the doorway

of which his proceedings, were watched by the captain and as many of the

men as could crowd round it.

Just as the harpooner sprang from the shelter of the rock the blast

burst upon the bank with redoubled fury, as if it actually were a

sentient being, and wished to catch the sailor in its rude grasp and

whirl him away. Rokens bent his stout frame against it with all his

might, and stood his ground for a few seconds like a noble tree on some

exposed mountain side that has weathered the gales of centuries. Then

he staggered, threw his arms wildly in the air, and a moment after was

swept from the spot and lost to view in the driving spray that flew over

the island.

The thing was so instantaneous that the horrified onlookers could

scarcely credit the evidence of their eyes, and they stood aghast for a

moment or two ere their feelings found vent in a cry of alarm. Next

instant Captain Dunning felt himself rudely pushed aside, and Briant

leaped through the doorway, shouting, as he dashed out--

"If Tim Rokens goes, it's Phil Briant as'll go along with him."

The enthusiastic Irishman was immediately lost to view, and Glynn

Proctor was about to follow, when the captain seized him by the collar,

dragged him back, and shut the door violently.

"Keep back, lads," he cried, "no one must leave the hut. If these two

men cannot save themselves by means of their own strong muscles, no

human power can save them."

Glynn, and indeed all of the men, felt this remark to be true, so they

sat down round the fire, and looked in each other's faces with the

expression of men who half believed they must be dreaming. Little was

said during the next ten or fifteen minutes; indeed, it was difficult to

make their voices heard, owing to the noise of the wind and dashing

waves. The captain stood at the door, looking out from time to time

with feelings of the deepest anxiety, each moment expecting to see the

two sailors struggling back towards the hut; but they did not return.

Soon the gale increased to such a degree that every one felt, although

no one would acknowledge it even to himself, that there was now no hope

of their comrades ever returning.

The wind shifted another point; and now their lost shipmates were for a

time forgotten in the anxieties of their own critical position, for

their rocky ledge formed only a partial shelter, and every now and then

the hut was shaken with a blast so terrible that it threatened to come

down about their ears.

"Don't you think our house will fall, dear papa?" inquired Ailie, as a

gust more furious than any that had hitherto passed swept round the

rocks, and shook the hut as if it had been made of pasteboard.

"God knows, my darling; we are in His hands."

Ailie tried to comfort herself with the thought that her Heavenly Father

was indeed the ruler of the storm, and could prevent it from doing them

harm if He pleased; but as gust after gust dashed against the frail

building, and almost shook it down, while the loud rattling of the

boards which composed it almost stunned her, an irresistible feeling of

alarm crept over her, despite her utmost efforts to control herself.

The captain now ordered the men to go out and see that the fastenings to

windward and the supports to leeward of the hut remained firm, and to

add more of them if possible. He set the example by throwing off his

coat and leading the way.

This duty was by no means so difficult or dangerous as that which had

been previously performed by Rokens, for it must be remembered the hut

as yet was only exposed to partial gusts of eddying wind, not to the

full violence of the storm. It involved a thorough wetting, however, to

all who went. In ten minutes the men re-entered, and put on their dry

coats, but as no one knew how soon he might again be called upon to

expose himself, none thought of changing his other garments.

"Now, Ailie, my pet," said Captain Dunning, sitting down beside his

child on the sandy floor of the hut, "we've done all we can. If the

wind remains as it is our house will stand."

"But have you not seen Rokens or Briant?" inquired Ailie with an anxious

face, while the tears rolled over her cheeks.

The captain shook his head, but made no reply, and the men looked

earnestly at each other, as if each sought to gather a ray of hope from

the countenance of his friend. While they sat thus, a terrible blast

shook the hut to its foundation. Again and again it came with

ever-increasing violence, and then it burst on them with a continuous

roar like prolonged thunder.

"Look out," cried the captain, instinctively clasping Ailie in his arms,

while the men sprang to their feet. The stout corner-posts bent over

before the immense pressure, and the second mate placed his shoulder

against one of those on the windward side of the hut, while Dick Barnes

and Nikel Sling did the same to the other.

"It's all up with us," cried Tarquin, as part of the roof blew off, and

a deluge of water and spray burst in upon them, extinguishing the fire

and leaving them in total darkness. At that moment Ailie felt herself

seized round the waist by a pair of tiny arms, and putting down her

hand, she felt that Jacko was clinging to her with a tight but trembling

grasp.

Even in that hour of danger, the child experienced a sensation of

pleasure at the mere thought that there was one living creature there

which looked up to and clung to her for protection; and although she

knew full well that if the stout arm of her father which encircled her

were removed, her own strength, in their present circumstances, could

not have availed to protect herself, yet she felt a gush of renewed

strength and courage at her heart when the poor little monkey put its

trembling arms around her.

"Lay your shoulders to the weather-wall, lads," cried the captain, as

another rush of wind bore down in the devoted hut.

The men obeyed, but their united strength availed nothing against the

mighty power that raged without. The wind, as the captain had feared,

went round another point, and they were now exposed to the unbroken

force of the hurricane. For a few minutes the stout corner-posts of the

hut held up, then they began to rend and crack.

"Bear down with the blast to the lee of the rocks, lads," cried the

captain; "it's your only chance; don't try to face it."

Almost before the words left his lips the posts snapped with a loud

crash; the hut was actually lifted off the ground by the wind, and swept

completely away, while most of the men were thrown violently to the

ground by the wreck as it passed over their heads. The captain fell

like the rest, but he retained his grasp of Ailie, and succeeded in

rising, and as the gale carried him away with irresistible fury he bore

firmly down to his right, and gained the eddy caused by the rocks which

until now had sheltered the hut. He was safe; but he did not feel

secure until he had staggered towards the most sheltered part, and

placed his child in a cleft of the rock.

Here he found Gurney and Tarquin before him, and soon after Glynn came

staggering in, along with one or two others. In less than three minutes

after the hut had been blown away, all the men were collected in the

cleft, where they crouched down to avoid the pelting, pitiless spray

that dashed over their heads.

It is difficult to conceive a more desperate position than that in which

they were now placed, yet there and at that moment a thrill of joy

passed through the hearts of most, if not all of them, for they heard a

shout which was recognised to be the voice of Tim Rokens. It came from

the rocks a few yards to their right, and almost ere it had died away,

Rokens himself staggered into the sheltering cleft of rock, accompanied

by Phil Briant.

Some of the men who had faced the dangers to which they had been exposed

with firm nerves and unblanched cheeks, now grew pale, and trembled

violently, for they actually believed that the spirits of their lost

shipmates had come to haunt them. But these superstitious fears were

soon put to flight by the hearty voice of the harpooner, who shook

himself like a great Newfoundland dog as he came up, and exclaimed--

"Why, wot on airth has brought ye all here?"

"I think we may say, what has brought _you_ here?" replied the captain,

as he grasped them each by the hand and shook them with as much energy

as if he had not met them for ten years past.

"It's aisy to tell that," said Briant, as he crouched down in the midst

of the group; "Tim and me wos blow'd right across the bank, an' we

should no doubt ha' bin blow'd right into the sea, but Tim went full

split agin one o' the casks o' salt junk, and I went slap agin _him_,

and we lay for a moment all but dead. Then we crep' in the lee o' the

cask, an' lay there till a lull came, when we clapped on all sail, an'

made for the shelter o' the rocks, an' shure we got there niver a taste

too soon, for it came on to blow the next minit, fit to blow the eyelids

off yer face, it did."

"It's a fact," added Rokens. "Moreover, we tried to git round to the

hut, but as we wos twice nearly blowed away w'en we tried for to double

the point, we 'greed to stay where we wos till the back o' the gale

should be broke. But, now, let's hear wot's happened."

"The hut's gone," said Gurney, in reply. "Blowed clean over our heads

to--I dun know where."

"Blowed away?" cried Rokens and Briant, in consternation.

"Not a stick left," replied the captain.

"An' the boat?" inquired Briant.

"It's gone too, I fancy; but we can't be sure."

"Then it's all up, boys," observed Briant; "for nearly every morsel o'

the prog that wos on the top o' the bank is washed away."

This piece of news fell like a thunderbolt on the men, and no one spoke

for some minutes. At last the captain said--

"Well, lads, we must do the best we can. Thank God, we are still alive;

so let us see whether we can't make our present quarters more

comfortable."

Setting his men the example, Captain Dunning began to collect the few

boards, and bits of canvas that chanced to have been left on that side

of the rocky ledge when the hut was removed to the other side, and with

these materials a very partial and insufficient shelter was put up. But

the space thus inclosed was so small that they were all obliged to

huddle together in a mass. Those farthest from the rock were not

altogether protected from the spray that flew over their heads, while

those nearest to it were crushed and incommoded by their companions.

Thus they passed that eventful night and all the following day, during

which the storm raged with such fury that no one dared venture out to

ascertain how much, if any, of their provisions and stores were left to

them.

During the second night, a perceptible decrease in the violence of the

gale took place, and before morning it ceased altogether. The sun rose

in unclouded splendour, sending its bright and warm beams up into the

clear blue sky and down upon the ocean, which glittered vividly as it

still swelled and trembled with agitation. All was serene and calm in

the sky, while below the only sound that broke upon the ear was the deep

and regular dash of the great breakers that fell upon the shores of the

islet, and encircled it with a fringe of purest white.

On issuing from their confined uneasy nest in the cleft of the rock,

part of the shipwrecked crew hastened anxiously to the top of the bank

to see how much of their valuable store of food was left, while others

ran to the spot in Fairyland where the keel of the new boat had been

laid. The latter party found to their joy that all was safe, everything

having been well secured; but a terrible sight met the eyes of the other

men. Not a vestige of all their store remained! The summit of the

sandbank was as smooth as on the day they landed there. Casks, boxes,

barrels--all were gone; everything had been swept away into the sea!

Almost instinctively the men turned their eyes towards the reef on which

the _Red Eric_ had grounded, each man feeling that in the wrecked vessel

all his hope now remained. It, too, was gone! The spot on which it had

lain was now washed by the waves, and a few broken planks and spars on

the beach were all that remained to remind them of their ocean home!

The men looked at each other with deep despondency expressed in their

countenances. They were haggard and worn from exposure, anxiety, and

want of rest; and as they stood there in their wet, torn garments, they

looked the very picture of despair.

"There's one chance for us yet, lads," exclaimed Tim Rokens, looking

carefully round the spot on which they stood.

"What's that?" exclaimed several of the men eagerly, catching at their

comrade's words as drowning men are said to catch at straws.

"Briant an' me buried some o' the things, by good luck, when we were

sent to make all snug here, an' I'm of opinion they'll be here yet, if

we could only find the place. Let me see."

Rokens glanced round at the rocks beside which their hut had found

shelter, and at the reef where the ship had been wrecked, in order to

find the "bearin's o' the spot," as he expressed it. Then walking a few

yards to one side, he struck his foot on the sand and said, "It should

be hereabouts."

The blow of his heel returned a peculiar hollow sound, very unlike that

produced by stamping on the mere sand.

"Shure ye've hit the very spot, ye have," cried Briant, falling on his

knees beside the place; and scraping up the sand with both hands. "It

sounds uncommon like a bread-cask. Here it is. Hurrah! boys, lind a

hand, will ye. There now, heave away; but trate it tinderly! Shure

it's the only friend we've got in the wide world."

"You're all wrong, Phil," cried Gurney, who almost at the same moment

began to scrape another hole close by. "It's not our only one; here's

another friend o' the same family. Bear a hand, lads!"

"And here's another!" cried Ailie, with a little scream of delight, as

she observed the rim of a small keg just peeping out above the sand.

"Well done, Ailie," cried Glynn, as he ran to the spot and quickly dug

up the keg in question, which, however, proved to be full of nails, to

Ailie's great disappointment, for she expected it to have turned out a

keg of biscuits.

"How many casks did you bury?" inquired the captain.

"It's meself can't tell," replied Briant; "d'ye know, Tim?"

"Three, I think; but we was in sich a hurry that I ain't sartin

exactly."

"Well, then, boys, look here!" continued the captain, drawing a pretty

large circle on the sand, "set to work like a band of moles an' dig up

every inch o' that till you come to the water."

"That's your sort," cried Rokens, plunging elbow-deep into the sand at

once.

"Arrah! then, here's at ye; a fair field an' no favour at any price,"

shouted Briant, baring his arms, straddling his legs, and sending a

shower of sand behind him that almost overwhelmed Gurney, before that

stout little individual could get out of the way.

The spirits of the men were farther rejoiced by the coming up of the

other party, bearing the good news that the keel of the boat was safe,

as well as all her planking and the carpenter's tools, which fortunately

happened to have been secured in a sheltered spot. From the depths of

despair they were all suddenly raised to renewed and sanguine hope, so

that they wrought with the energy of gold-diggers, and soon their toil

was rewarded by the discovery of that which, in their circumstances,

they would not have exchanged for all the golden nuggets that ever were

or will be dug up from the prolific mines of Australia, California, or

British Columbia, namely, three casks of biscuit, a small keg of wine, a

cask of fresh water, a roll of tobacco, and a barrel of salt junk.