aid the mate, whose
courage was not quite equal to his position.

"There are no gods!" growled the captain bitterly, for he saw that he
was now a ruined man, even though he should escape with life.

"There is _one_ God," said Bladud quietly, "and He does all things
well."

As he spoke, the captain, whose eyes had not ceased to look searchingly
along the coast, observed something like a bay a short way to the left
of the place where they lay.

"It looks like a sandy bay," he said.

"It _is_ a sandy bay," exclaimed the anxious mate; "let us up anchors
and run into it."

"Have an easy mind and keep your advice till asked for," returned the
captain with a look of scorn. "If we are destined to escape, we _shall_
escape without making haste. If we are doomed to die, nothing can save
us, and it is more manly to die in a leisurely way than in a hurry.
When we can see clearly we shall know better how to act."

Although this manner of submitting to the inevitable did not quite suit
the mate, he felt constrained to repress his impatience, while the
coolness of the captain had a quieting effect on some of the men who
were inclined to give way to panic. The sight of Bladud--as he sat
there leaning on the hilt of his sword with an expression of what
appeared to be serene contentment--had also a quieting effect on the
men.

When the increasing light showed that the sandy bay was a spot that
might possibly be reached in safety, orders were given to cut the
cables, loose the rudder-bands and hoist the sail. For a few minutes
the vessel ran swiftly towards the bay, but before reaching the shore
she struck with violence. The fore part of the _Penelope_ stuck fast
immovably, and then, at last, the ravenous waves attained their
longed-for meal. They burst over the stern, swept the decks, tore up
the fastenings, revelled among the tackling and began tumultuously to
break up the ship.

"Launch the skiff," shouted the captain, hastening to lend a hand in the
operation.

The men were not slow to obey, and when it touched the water they
swarmed into it, so that, being overloaded, it upset and left its
occupants struggling in the water. A number of the men who could swim,
immediately jumped overboard and tried to right the skiff, but they
failed, and, in the effort to do so, broke the rope that held it. Some
clung to it. Others turned and swam for the shore.

A good many of the men, however, still remained in the wreck, wh