man-of-war,
and had been picked up again just as a shark was about to seize his
legs. A ship he had been on board had blown up, when only he and a
dozen more had escaped. On another occasion his ship had caught fire,
and the crew had to take to their boats. Three times besides he had
been wrecked. "And yet, you see, mates," he wound up by saying, "here I
am, alive and well, and fit for duty; and if you ask me if I think we
are to get out of this place, I tell you. To be sure I do. We are not
half as badly off as I have been a score of times." Encouraged by their
officer, the men kept up a brisk conversation till daylight dawned.

The weather appeared to have somewhat moderated, and Harry hoped, as
soon as breakfast was over, to be able to launch the boat and return to
the settlement. As the party were descending the hill, however, a seal
was heard bellowing in the wood. As it was important to secure the
supply of meat the animal might afford, they set out in chase. The cry
of the creature guided them towards her; but as they advanced, it became
evident that she was going away from them. They therefore increased
their speed, hoping before long to come up with her.

"May be she has lost her calf; and if so, we must keep a look-out,"
observed Paul Lizard. "She will prove mighty savage."

"She is not likely to show fight against half-a-dozen men," said the
boatswain. "Come along, lads, we have lost a great deal of time
already." At last the bellowing grew louder, and the seal was seen
looking about her, wondering perhaps at the unusual sounds which struck
her ear.

The boatswain was the first to emerge from the cover of the wood. The
creature lifted up its monstrous head, and opening wide its jaws, made a
dash at the intruder. So formidable did she appear that the sturdy
boatswain, though he would have faced a human foe without trembling,
turned tail and ran for his life. The seal followed, but just then,
Paul Lizard coming in sight, she bolted at him, moving over the ground
with her flipper-like feet at a rapid rate. Paul, having learned a
lesson from experience, dodged behind a tree, and when the seal nearly
reached him, sprang on one side, giving her a blow with his club on the
nose. It was not sufficiently well dealt, however, to bring her to the
ground; and, again catching sight of the boatswain, she once more rushed
at him. Imitating Paul's manoeuvre, he managed to escape her charge.
She, howe