ver himself, and think about what he
should do next.

To him, in his terror and anxiety, the first necessity seemed to
be to get rid of that dangerous sail. As it flapped in the wind
it seemed to endanger the boat. At all hazards that must be furled
or taken down. So once more, by a mighty effort, he crawled forward,
and grasping the flying sheets, he drew them in, and tied the sail
to the mast, performing, the work in a manner which was very clumsy,
yet quite efficient. The upper part of the sail still remained
free, bagging out a little, like a balloon; but the lower part was
tied up in a way that would defy the tempest itself. After this
David felt safer, and crawling back, he drew a long breath, and
threw a fearful glance around.

Some time had been taken up with these experiments in navigation,
and as David looked, he saw that the result had been not to bring
him nearer to Castellamare, but to take him farther out from the
shore. The nearest land to him now was an island, but what island
he could not say. As his eyes wandered around, they saw nothing
that was familiar. A mountain appeared over the land astern, and
the smoke on its summit showed that it must be Vesuvius; but it
had a different appearance altogether from that with which he was
familiar. He could form no idea of the course which he had taken,
and could only guess, in a general way, where Castellamare might be.

Some time before, he had been troubled at the thought that he would
keep his party waiting; but now he had no trouble whatever on that
score. His only trouble or anxiety was about himself. He felt as
though he was in a position of tremendous danger, and was being
tossed about by pitiless waves, which were hemming him in on every
side, like ravening beasts of prey. In reality the pitiless waves
were scarcely waves at all, the breeze was only moderate, and there
was no possible danger; but David did not know this, and so he
suffered as much as though his imaginary danger was real.

Meanwhile a portion of the sail had been left loose, as has been
said, and afforded something for the breeze to act upon. The
consequence was, that the boat moved along slowly before the wind,
and gradually approached the island which David had already noticed.
For some time he remained with his eyes fixed upon the land astern,
and Vesuvius. When he withdrew them and looked around, the island
was much nearer. He began to see that he was approaching that
island, a