and
a cold perspiration broke out upon him, when he fancied it might be a
ghost. Again the bat swept past close to his eyes.

"Musha, but I'll kill ye, ghost or no ghost," he ejaculated, gazing all
round into the gloomy depths of the woods with his cutlass uplifted.
Instead of flying again in front of him, as he had expected, the bat
flew with a whirring noise past his ear. Down came the cutlass with a
sudden thwack, cutting deep into the trunk of a small tree, which
trembled under the shock and sent a shower of nuts of a large size down
upon the sailor's head. Startled as he was, he sprang backward with a
wild cry; then, half ashamed of his groundless fears, he collected the
wood he had cut, threw it hastily on his shoulder and went with a quick
step out of the woods. In doing so he put his foot upon the head of a
small snake, which wriggled up round his ankle and leg. If there was
anything on earth that Barney abhorred and dreaded it was a snake. No
sooner did he feel its cold form writhing under his foot, than he
uttered a tremendous yell of terror, dropped his bundle of sticks, and
fled precipitately to the beach, where he did not halt till he found
himself knee-deep in the sea.

"Och, Martin, boy," gasped the affrighted sailor, "it's my belafe that
all the evil spirits on arth live in yonder wood; indeed I do."

"Nonsense, Barney," said Martin, laughing; "there are no such things as
ghosts; at any rate, I'm resolved to face them, for if we don't get some
sticks the fire will go out and leave us very comfortless. Come, I'll
go up with you."

"Put on yer shoes then, avic, for the sarpints are no ghosts, anyhow,
and I'm tould they're pisonous sometimes."

They soon found the bundle of dry sticks that Barney had thrown down,
and returning with it to the beach, they speedily kindled a roaring
fire, which made them feel quite cheerful. True, they had nothing to
eat; but having had a good dinner on board the barque late that
afternoon, they were not much in want of food. While they sat thus on
the sand of the sea-shore, spreading their hands before the blaze and
talking over their strange position, a low rumbling of distant thunder
was heard. Barney's countenance instantly fell.

"What's the matter, Barney?" inquired Martin, as he observed his
companion gaze anxiously up at the sky.

"Och, it's comin', sure enough."

"And what though it does come?" returned Martin; "we can creep under one
of these thic