my face, and
endeavoured to comfort me by licking my hand, and showing other marks of
affection. Poor fellow! if we were likely to starve, so was he; but
then he did not know that, and was better able to endure hunger than
either Duppo or me.

The rain continued pouring down, hiding all objects, except in the
immediate vicinity, from our view. I judged, however, that the falling
cliff had sent us some distance from the shore into the more rapid part
of the current. Providentially it was so, for we could still see the
indistinct forms of the trees come sliding down, while the constant loud
crashes told us that the destruction of the banks had not yet ceased.
Thus we floated on till darkness came down upon us, adding to the horror
of our position. The rain had by that time stopped. The thunder no
longer roared, and the lightning ceased flashing. The storm was over,
but I feared, from the time of the year, that we might soon be visited
by another. We had climbed up into a broad part of the trunk, where,
among the projecting branches, we could sit or lie down securely without
danger of falling off. My chief fear arose from what I have already
mentioned,--the possibility of the tree turning over. This made me
unwilling either to secure myself to the branches, or indeed even to
venture to go to sleep.

Hour after hour slowly passed by. Had Arthur been saved, I could have
kept up my spirits; but every now and then, when the recollection of his
loss came across me, I could not help bursting into tears. Poor, dear
fellow! I had scarcely thought how much I had cared for him. Duppo
spoke but little; indeed, finding himself tolerably secure, he probably
thought little of the future. He expected, I dare say, to get on shore
somewhere or other, and it mattered little to him where that was. True
coiled himself up by my side, continuing his efforts to comfort me. In
spite of my unwillingness to go to sleep, I found myself frequently
dropping off; and at last, in spite of my dread of what might occur, my
eyes remained closed, and my senses wandered away into the land of
dreams. Duppo also went to sleep, and, I suspect, so did True.

I was awoke by the rays of the sun striking my eyes; when, opening them,
I looked about me, wondering where I was. Very soon I recollected all
that had occurred. Then came the sad recollection that Arthur had been
lost. Our tree appeared to be in the position in which it had been when