e,
he begged her to let him fasten her to a hen-coop, which he lashed
tightly down in the centre of the raft. "Don't be afraid, Missie Alice;
don't be afraid," he kept continually saying.

"I am not afraid for myself," answered Alice; "but I am thinking how
miserable poor papa and Walter will be when they get back to the ship
and find that I am gone. They will not know that you are taking care of
me, and that we are safe on a raft. And then, if Mr Lawrie and Dan
Tidy should escape, they will not be able to say where we are gone, as
they did not see us get away. For their sakes, I wish that we could go
back."

"Dat we can't do, Missie Alice; for, if I try eber so hard, I not pull
against such a gale as dis," answered Nub.

Alice was silent; she saw that Nub's reason was a true one. Though she
had assured him that she was not frightened, she felt very anxious and
alarmed about her own fate and his.

The thunder rolled, the lightning flashed, and the seas tumbled the raft
so fearfully about, that had it not been put strongly together it would
speedily have been broken into fragments, and she and her companion left
without any support on which to preserve their lives. The burning ship
appeared further and further off, and even should the storm cease it
would be almost impossible to get back to her. At length there came a
loud roar which sounded above the noise of the thunder. The flames
seemed to rise higher than before in the sky; and even at that distance
the masts, spars, and rigging could be discerned, broken into fragments,
and hanging, as it were, above the fire. Then after a few minutes all
became dark!

"Dere goes de ship to de bottom," exclaimed Nub; "I hope no one on board
her. De people had time to get away on a raft if dey got deir senses
about dem."

"Indeed, I hope that Mr Lawrie, and honest Dan Tidy and the others,
managed to escape," cried Alice. "But oh, Nub, do you think papa and
Walter can have been on board?"

"No, I tink not, Missie Alice," answered Nub. "Dey too wise to stay
when de ship was burning like dat. Dey knew well enough dat she would
go up in de air when de fire reach de magazine, which has just happened.
Dey eider not get back, or put off again in time."

"But they will think that we were blown up, should they not have visited
the ship first," said Alice; "and that will break their hearts."

"I hope not, Missie Alice. Dey know dat I had got to take care of you,
and