ury of the
storm that was raging outside. They accordingly retired; and I heard
them close the doors at the top of the stairs and draw over the cover--
to keep the water from coming down into the cabin, I suppose; for I
could hear it falling heavily on the deck with alarming frequency; while
the hoarse shouts and calling of the men up above were truly terrifying.

"You were quite insensible, and bleeding freely from a wound in your
head," resumed the young lady; "and my first thought, naturally, was the
medicine-chest that I had seen under the cabin table. I made my way to
this as best I could; and, finding the book of directions, turned to the
part treating of wounds, where I found full instructions how to proceed.

"Acting upon these, I carefully clipped away the hair from all around
the gash; bathed the place, washing away the blood as well as I could;
and then applied a dressing, as directed, securing it in place with
plaster, and then swathing your head with a bandage to preserve the
dressing from displacement.

"I had just completed this task, and was sitting on the box under your
lamp, trying to discover some way of restoring you to consciousness,
when the ship suddenly struck with awful violence against something, and
I heard a crash as of a falling mast on deck, accompanied by a terrible
outcry among the men. Then the ship was lifted up, to come down again
with another crash, even worse than the first; then she was thrown
violently over on her side, and I heard a fearful fall of water on the
deck, accompanied by more rending and crashing of timber. This was
continued for, I should say, quite half an hour, the shocks, however,
becoming less and less violent until they ceased altogether, and the
ship seemed to remain stationary, save for a slight rocking movement
that eventually also ceased; and I have not since then felt the
slightest movement or tremor of any kind. The gale, however, continued
to rage with unabated fury until midday yesterday, when it quickly died
away, and the sun came out.

"Meanwhile, I continued my efforts to restore you to consciousness, but
without success. And finally, when at length the gale had passed away
and the weather had again become fine, I ventured to go up on deck to
see what had happened to the ship, and what had become of the men; for,
to my great surprise and alarm, none of them had come near me, or made
any attempt to inquire after you, from the moment when they ha