ulling away from the wreck.

The captain, who, with his passengers, was in the larger boat, was aware
that he was off the coast of Peru, but that was all he certainly knew of
his position. The storm had struck the ship in the morning, before he had
taken his daily observation, and his room, which was on deck, had been
carried away, as well as every nautical instrument on board. He did not
believe that the storm had taken him far out of his course, but of this
he could not be sure. All that he knew with certainty was that to the
eastward lay the land, and eastward, therefore, they pulled, a little
compass attached to the captain's watch-guard being their only guide.

For the rest of that day and that night, and the next day and the next
night, the two boats moved eastward, the people on board suffering but
little inconvenience, except from the labor of continuous rowing, at
which everybody, excepting the two ladies, took part, even Ralph
Markham being willing to show how much of a man he could be with an
oar in his hand.

The weather was fine, and the sea was almost smooth, and as the captain
had rigged up in his boat a tent-like covering of canvas for the ladies,
they were, as they repeatedly declared, far more comfortable than they
had any right to expect. They were both women of resource and courage.
Mrs. Cliff, tall, thin in face, with her gray hair brushed plainly over
her temples, was a woman of strong frame, who would have been perfectly
willing to take an oar, had it been necessary. To Miss Markham this boat
trip would have been a positive pleasure, had it not been for the
unfortunate circumstances which made it necessary.

On the morning of the third day land was sighted, but it was afternoon
before they reached it. Here they found themselves on a portion of the
coast where the foot-hills of the great mountains stretch themselves
almost down to the edge of the ocean. To all appearances, the shore was
barren and uninhabited.

The two boats rowed along the coast a mile or two to the southward, but
could find no good landing-place, but reaching a spot less encumbered
with rocks than any other portion of the coast they had seen, Captain
Horn determined to try to beach his boat there. The landing was
accomplished in safety, although with some difficulty, and that night was
passed in a little encampment in the shelter of some rocks scarcely a
hundred yards from the sea.

The next morning Captain Horn took counse