assed his arm round
the human-looking little animal.

"Chick, chack!" cried Jack, and accepting the invitation he huddled up
close to Mark's breast, tucking his nose under his arm, and directly
after the lad could feel that both the thin little arms were clinging to
him tightly.

"No wonder I feel a bit afraid," he said to himself, "if they wake up
and come to me for protection."

And with something of a warm glow at his heart as he felt himself
occupying the position of protector, he sat there waiting for the storm
to cease, the danger dying out of his mind, his head drooping down upon
his chest, and at last Mark and his two strange bed-fellows were fast
asleep, with the thunder roaring to them its deep-toned lullaby till it
slowly died away.

Bruff was the first to wake and begin barking loudly, for Mark to start
up in wonder, perfectly ignorant of where he was. It was as dark as
ever, but the rain had ceased, the lightning merely flashed now and
then, and there was a delicious sensation of cool freshness in the air
which came most gratefully to the senses.

"Where am I?" thought Mark, "and what does this mean?" for he had been
awakened by the dog's barking from one of those heavy dreamless sleeps
where the mind refuses to open and take in facts as quickly as do the
eyes.

The dog barked again more loudly than ever and now rushed from out of
the shelving rocks.

"Mark, ahoy! Where are you, lad?"

"Here, father, here!" he shouted, but still wondering what it meant,
till he heard the loud thud of approaching feet coming through the
darkness, and once more there was a hail.

"Where away, lad?"

Mark ought to have answered, "Three points on your port-bow," but he was
not well up in nautical terms in this, his first voyage, and so he
simply cried out, "Here!"

The result was that in a few minutes the captain, Small, and Billy
Widgeon came feeling their way into the hollow.

"Are you all right, my boy?"

"Yes, father."

"How dark it is! We were afraid we should miss you. Strike a light,
Small, and let's see."

The boatswain struck a match, and while the thin splint burned there was
time for the position of all to be observed, and Billy Widgeon
immediately placed himself alongside of Jack.

"We started to come to your help directly the major came into camp,"
said the captain, "but we were driven to take shelter till the storm was
over. I don't believe I was ever in such a downpour before."

"How