, and we will carry
him into the cave; it is the most sheltered spot hereabouts. Can you
walk, my friend?" he asked of the Englishman.

"I'll try, sir," was the answer.

While Lord Reginald and Dick carried up the Frenchman to the cave, the
other man crawled, rather than walked after them, unwilling longer than
possible to remain exposed to the force of the fierce wind. On reaching
the cave they found a pile of sticks which Lord Reginald had formerly
collected. Dick having a flint and steel with him, they soon made up a
blazing fire.

Their first care was then to strip the Frenchman and chafe his limbs and
chest. Under such treatment he soon revived. Though both the
shipwrecked men were severely bruised, none of their limbs were broken.

The Englishman, whose appearance was that of a mate of a merchantman,
said that his name was Robson, that he had been captured three weeks
before by the French ship--a large privateer--and that his companion was
one of her crew. He had been somewhat roughly dealt with on board, but
that the man saved with him was the only one who had treated him kindly.
As neither had eaten anything since the previous day, they were very
thankful for the provisions their rescuers had brought, and leaving the
two men to finish their meal and recover their strength, Lord Reginald
and Dick again set out to search for any other persons who might be
thrown on shore.

On leaving the cave they found that the gale had already begun to abate.
They thus made their way with greater ease than they had expected along
the beach, which was strewn with pieces of wreck. They met with several
dead bodies, but not a single living being could they discover, either
on shore or floating on the pieces of limber still tossing about.

They were returning along the beach to the cave, when they saw the two
men they had left there running towards them, their countenances, as
they approached, exhibiting the greatest alarm.

"There's something dreadful going to occur, sir," exclaimed Robson. "We
were just about to lie down, when we heard the most fearful rumbling
noise, and the rocks about us trembled as if they would come down on our
heads. Let us get away from this place as fast as we can, or we shall
have been only saved from drowning to suffer a worse death."

The dashing of the seas on the beach had prevented Lord Reginald and
Dick from feeling the commotion which had so frightened the strangers,
but Neptune s