oom. The soil consisted of decomposed shell and vegetable
matter, very soft and porous, underneath which were loose coral slabs,
and I soon had a space cleared large enough for us both to lie down
upon. Then I started to enclose it on three sides by a low wall of the
flat coral stones, across which I laid a thick and nearly rain-proof
covering of branches and leaves, and when Yorke returned an hour later,
I was almost finished, and had begun to make a fire of dead roots and
branches.

"That's grand," he said, as he laid down the rifles. "I was wondering
if your matches were dry. Mine are spoilt, as I had them loose in my
pocket. How is your tobacco?"

"Quite dry, too. Here you are, fill your pipe."

The man's thoughtfulness showed at once. "No, thank you--not just yet.
I'll improve this newly-erected mansion of ours by getting coconut
branches up from the beach. We might as well make our roof as watertight
as we can before dark. Then I want something to eat, and there are
plenty of coconuts lying about everywhere."

"We won't starve," I said; "there are any amount of robber crabs in
this scrub, and to-night we can get as many as we want, if we can make a
bright fire."

By dark we had succeeded in carrying up thirty or forty coconut
branches, and covering our sleeping place over in a more satisfactory
manner, though we were every now and then chilled to the bone by the
stinging rain. Our rifles, matches, tobacco, and a few biscuits, we
placed in a dry spot, and then built up a small but hot fire of roots
under the shelter, and, after eating a meal of coconut and biscuit, we
filled our pipes, piled on more roots, and sat by the fire drying
our clothes, and listening to the wild uproar of wind and sea,
congratulating ourselves upon being in a spot where we were at least
safe from the wind, for our camp was at least eight or ten feet below
the general level of the island, both on its windward and leeward sides.

All that night the wind blew with terrific violence, and the noise of
the surf thrashing upon the coral barriers of the island was something
indescribable. At about midnight, just after a lull succeeded by a
heavy fall of rain, the wind hauled round two or three points to the
southward, and, if possible, blew with still greater violence. The
crashing of trees mingling with the demoniacal shriek of the hurricane,
was enough to disturb the mind of the bravest; but my companion lay
quietly beside the fire, smoki