lay where he had been first thrown down. But
of a sudden, a wash of water told him that he could remain there no
longer: the sea was rising--rising fast; and before he could gain a few
paces on his hands and knees, another wave, as if it chased him in its
wrath, repeated the warning of his extreme danger, and he was obliged to
rise on his feet and hasten to the high part of the sand-bank, where he
had drawn up his boat and his provisions.

Blinded as he was by the rain and spray, he could distinguish nothing.
Of a sudden, he fell violently; he had stumbled over one of the breakers
of water, and his head struck against a sea-chest. Where, then, was the
boat? It was gone!--it must have been swept away by the fury of the
wind. Alas, then, all chance was over! and, if not washed away by the
angry waters, he had but to prolong his existence but a few days, and
then to die. The effect of the blow he had received on his forehead,
with the shock of mind occasioned by the disappearance of the boat,
overpowered him, and he remained for some time in a state of
insensibility.

When Francisco recovered, the scene was again changed: the wide expanse
was now in a state of wild and fearful commotion, and the water roared
as loud as did the hurricane. The whole sand-bank, with the exception
of that part on which he stood, was now covered with tumultuous foam,
and his place of refuge was occasionally invaded, when some vast mass,
o'erlording the other waves, expended all its fury, even to his feet.
Francisco prepared to die!

But gradually the darkness of the heavens disappeared, and there was no
longer a bank upon the horizon, and Francisco hoped--alas! hoped what?--
that he might be saved from the present impending death to be reserved
for one still more horrible; to be saved from the fury of the waves,
which would swallow him up, and in a few seconds remove him from all
pain and suffering, to perish for want of sustenance under a burning
sun; to be withered--to be parched to death--calling in his agony for
water; and as Francisco thought of this he covered his face with his
hands, and prayed, "Oh, God, thy will be done! but in thy mercy, raise,
still higher raise the waters!"

But the waters did not rise higher. The howling of the wind gradually
decreased, and the foaming seas had obeyed the Divine injunction--they
had gone so far, but no farther! And the day dawned, and the sky
cleared: and the first red tints, announcin