ered towards it.
We were going round to the side on which I expected to land with least
danger, when I made out a vessel on a reef at some distance from the
shore. I was able to approach her. As I did so I was hailed by a voice
I knew, and I discovered that she was the prize we had taken, and which
had afterwards been driven on shore. The masts were gone, and the
vessel was evidently a complete wreck. Some of the people were clinging
to the bowsprit, and waving frantically to me. In a short time, the
wind having fallen still more, I was able to board her; when I found
that many of the French crew had attempted to escape and had been lost,
and that those on the bowsprit were the only survivors. Happily, the
hull of the vessel had not suffered so much as I had feared, for though
she was bilged, and her bulwarks and boats had been washed away, the
greater part of her cargo and stores were uninjured. I therefore at
once set all hands to work to build a raft, on which we might land them.
The weather holding fine, we got everything of value on shore; but as
the island was utterly barren, I saw that before long we should be
reduced to starvation. I therefore at once determined to build a vessel
from the wreck. Fortunately, the brig had a fresh suit of sails, and a
good deal of the rigging was still clinging to her. The French
carpenter and one of his crew had been among the saved, and I had two of
my carpenters; so, without loss of time, we pulled the wreck to pieces,
and set up a new vessel on the stocks. She was launched but a week ago;
and we were steering a course for Sydney, when we were driven back by a
strong southerly gale. We thought it a great misfortune, as our
provisions were running short; but it has proved to me indeed a happy
occurrence."

"And _we_ thought, when our boat was wrecked, that it was a great
misfortune," exclaimed Walter; "but now we see that it was ordered for
the best: for had we sailed away, we might have been lost; or had we
reached Sydney, we should very likely have gone up the country, and have
been a long time before we heard of you."

"Depend upon it, my children, everything is ordered for the best in the
affairs of those who trust God," said the captain solemnly.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The little schooner, notwithstanding the way she had been built, reached
Sydney in safety; when Captain Tredeagle, weary of the sea, took
ad