e all that men can do, I
believe."

"Yes, sir, that we have," he replied. "We can do no more, and it isn't
the first time Nol Grampus has had to look Death in the face, so I hopes
that I shall not shrink from him. Come he will, I know, some day,
sooner or later; and it matters little, as far as I can see, if he comes
to-day or to-morrow."

"Not if we put our trust in One who is able and willing to save our
souls alive," I observed. "That makes all the difference whether death
should be feared or welcomed. It is not what we suffer in this world
that we should dread, but what we may deserve to suffer in the next; in
the same way it is not what we enjoy here, but what we may be able to
enjoy through all eternity, that we should long for."

"Very true, sir--very true, Mr Hurry," replied Grampus; "but the worst
is, that we don't think of these things till just at such moments as the
present, when the flood has done, and the tide of life is fast ebbing
away."

Thus we talked on for some time. I felt really with my old friend Nol,
that though there we all stood in health and strength, we might soon be
removed to behold the glories of the eternal world.

Suddenly Nol looked up. Holding his hand to the wind, and casting his
eye on the compass--

"I thought so, sir," he exclaimed. "There's a shift of wind. It has
backed round again into the eastward."

Such was providentially the case. I took the bearings of the land. We
might now hope to drive on clear of it. The sea was, however, getting
higher and higher, but the Dolphin proved to be as tight as a cork and
as buoyant, and I began to get rid of all my dread of her foundering,
provided her masts and rigging did not give way.

Considering the manner in which she was fitted out, however, I did not
feel quite easy on that score. Still nothing more could be done, so we
had, as best we could, to wait events. At length there was a lull. I
expected that it would breeze up again.

"The gale has worn itself out, to my mind, Mr Hurry," observed Grampus,
after a careful survey of the sky and sea.

"I am sure I hope so," I answered; "I was getting somewhat tired of it,
and so I suspect was the schooner. Sound the well, and see what water
she has made."

He sounded the well, and reported three feet.

"I thought so. Rig the pumps, and let us try and get her clear while we
can."

All hands pumped away with a will, and soon got her free of water, when
the sea w