"

"Aye, do 'ee pray, Master Bob," replied Dick eagerly. "P'r'aps God'll
hear us and send us help!"

So, then and there the two boys knelt down together side by side in the
battered boat, that drifted about at the mercy of the wind and sea,
imploring the aid of Him who heeds those who call upon Him for succour,
in no wise refusing them or turning a deaf ear to their prayers!

By and by, as if in answer to their earnest supplications, the day
dawned; when, the mist, which yet lingered over the water, hanging about
here and there in little patches, like so many floating islands, was
either swallowed up by the sea or absorbed into the air, as if by magic.

Bob and Dick now got some idea as to the points of the compass, even if
they were not able to tell precisely where they were; for, as the day
advanced, a rosy tinge crept upwards over a far-off quarter of the
horizon which they knew instinctively to be the east, the birthplace of
all light!

This tint, almost like a blush, spread quickly over the sky, reaching
away to the north and again south, coming full in both their faces and
making them glow.

The bright hue then gradually melted into a ruddier tone, which first
darkened into purple and red and then rapidly changed to a greenish sort
of neutral tone that, after an interval, finally became merged into the
pure ultramarine of the zenith; for, the heavens were now as clear as a
bell, no mist or fog or cloud obscuring the expanse of the empyrean.

A sort of golden vapour then, all of a sudden, flooded the east, which
in another second gave place to the red rays of the crimson sun; though
the latter did not seem so much to rise, but rather appeared to Bob, who
was watching intently the various changes that occurred, to jump in an
instant above the sea, glorifying it far and near with its presence and
warming it into life,

This warmth soon cheered the boys, as the light banished the despondent
feelings inseparable, as a rule, from darkness and, beyond that, the
death-like stillness around, which had previously added to their fears,
was banished by the new stir and movement observable in everything.

Previously, the sea had risen and fallen tumidly, as if Father Neptune
had been asleep and its monotonous pulsation was caused by his deep,
long-drawn breathing; but, now, it crisped and sparkled in the sunshine,
whilst its surface was broken by innumerable little wavelets, like
curls, that grew into swell-crested