rtain
this, and they resolved to make it without delay.

They were becoming very sleepy, for they had been many hours on foot and
the night was far advanced. Before lying down, however, Bill said he
wished to see how the storm was getting on.

It was making a dreadful uproar in the cavern, and he wanted to
ascertain what chance there was of the waves washing in. There was not
much risk, to be sure, of their reaching as far as they then were, but
it was as well to be on the safe side, and if there was a likelihood of
it they would move farther up and carry their provisions and store of
fuel with them, the only property they possessed.

They set out together, Jack keeping a little behind Bill for though he
was as brave as any lad need be in the daylight, or out at sea, he did
not somehow, he confessed, feel like himself in that dark cavern, filled
with the roaring, howling, shrieking noises caused by the gale.

They got on very well till they rounded the rock, when they met a blast,
driving a sheet of fine spray in their faces, which well-nigh blinded
them, and forced them back. They notwithstanding made their way for
some distance, till Bill began to think that it would be wise to go no
farther.

Every now and then a bright glare filled the cavern, caused by the
flashes of lightning darting from the clouds; while, as each sea rolled
in, the whole mouth was filled as it were by a sheet of foaming water,
part of which, striking the roof, fell back into the ocean, while a
portion rushed up the floor, almost to where they were standing.

"It's bad enough now," shouted Jack, for they could only make each other
hear by speaking at the top of their voices. "What will it be when it's
high tide?"

"Perhaps it won't be much worse than it is now," answered Bill. "We
shall be safe enough at our hiding-place, and if it gets up much higher
it will give us notice of its coming, and allow us to retreat in good
time."

They accordingly got back to their fire, the embers of which enabled
them to dry their clothes. They then lay down, and, in spite of the
storm and the hubbub it was creating, were soon fast asleep.

Had it not been for feeling very hungry, they might have slept on till
past noon of the next day. Awaking, they found their fire completely
gone out. What o'clock it was they could not tell. They were in total
darkness, while the tempest roared away as loudly as ever.

They, however, lighted a candle, and a