administered to him in obedience to the doctor's orders. On his account,
therefore, Morris had no anxiety, since the cook, a steady, middle-aged
woman, could watch by him for the present.

He called her and gave her instructions, bidding her tell the doctor
when he came that he had gone to see if he could make out anything more
about the wreck, and that he would be back soon. Then, ordering the
page-boy, a stout lad, to accompany him, he descended the steps, and
together, with some difficulty, they succeeded in launching the boat.
Now for a moment Morris hesitated, wondering whether he should take the
young man with him; but remembering that this journey was not without
its dangers, finally he decided to go alone.

"I am just going to have a sail round, Thomas, to look if I can make out
anything about that ship."

"Yes, sir," remarked Thomas, doubtfully. "But it is rather a queer time
to hunt for her, and in this sea-haze too, especially round the Sunk
Rocks. Shall I leave the lunch basket in the locker, sir, or take it up
to the house?"

"Leave it; it wasn't touched to-day, and I might be glad of some
breakfast," Morris answered. Then, having hoisted his sail, he sat
himself in the stern, with the tiller in one hand and the sheet in the
other. Instantly the water began to lap gently against the bow, and in
another minute he glided away from the sight of the doubting Thomas,
vanishing like some sea-ghost into the haze and that chill darkness
which precedes the dawn.

It was very dark, and the mist was very damp, and the wind, what there
was of it, very cold, especially as in his hurry he had forgotten to
bring a thick ulster, and had nothing but a covert coat and a thin
oil-skin to wear. Moreover, he could not see in the least where he was
going, or do more than lay his course for the Sunk Rocks by means of the
boat's compass, which he consulted from time to time by the help of a
bull's-eye lantern.

This went on for nearly an hour, by the end of which Morris began
to wonder why he had started upon such a fool's errand. Also, he was
growing alarmed. He knew that by now he should be in the neighbourhood
of the reef, and fancied, indeed, that he could hear the water lapping
against its rocks. Accordingly, as this reef was ill company in the
dark, Morris hauled down his sail, and in case he should have reached
the shallows, threw out his little anchor, which was attached to six
fathoms of chain. At first it swung lo