t scraping along the sand.

As if actuated by one impulse, all four dismounted from the irksome seat
they had been so long compelled to keep; and, bidding adieu to the spar,
they plunged on through the shoal water, without stop or stay, until
they stood high and dry upon the extreme point of the peninsula.

By this time the sun had gone down; and the four dripping forms, dimly
outlined in the purple twilight, appeared like four strange creatures
who had just emerged from out the depths of the ocean.

"Where next?"

This was the mental interrogatory of all four: though by none of them
shaped into words.

"Nowhere to-night," was the answer suggested by the inclination of each.

Impelled by hunger, stimulated by thirst, one would have expected them
to proceed onward in search of food and water to alleviate this double
suffering. But there was an inclination stronger than either,--too
strong to be resisted,--sleep: since for fifty hours they had been
without any; since to have fallen asleep on the spar would have been to
subject themselves to the danger, almost the certainty, of dropping off,
and getting drowned; and, notwithstanding their need of sleep, increased
by fatigue, and the necessity of keeping constantly on the alert,--up to
that moment not one of them had obtained any. The thrill of pleasure
that passed through their frames as they felt their feet upon _terra
firma_ for a moment aroused them. But the excitement could not be
sustained. The drowsy god would no longer be deprived of his rights; and
one after another--though without much interval between--sank down upon
the soft sand, and yielded to his balmy embrace.

CHAPTER IV.

'WARE THE TIDE!.

Through that freak, or law, of nature by which peninsulas are shaped,
the point of the sand-spit was elevated several feet above the level of
the sea; while its neck, nearer the land, scarce rose above the surface
of the water.

It was this highest point--where the sand was thrown up in a "wreath,"
like snow in a storm--that the castaways had chosen for their couch. But
little pains had been taken in selecting the spot. It was the most
conspicuous, as well as the driest; and, on stepping out of the water,
they had tottered towards it, and half mechanically chosen it for their
place of repose.

[Illustration: 'WARE THE TIDE]

Simple as was the couch, they were not allowed to occupy it for long.
They had been scarce two hours asleep, when one and all