deck, his brains would inevitably have
been dashed out of his head; but, as he fell, the hitherto sluggish wind
filled the foresail, on the bulge of which, at the very instant his body
striking, it was thrown with considerable force forward right into the
sea. As before, Terence preserved his consciousness, or, at all events,
recovered it as he struck the water. He struck out bravely alongside
the ship.

"Heave us a rope, shipmates," he sung out. I ran to the side, and was
just in time to throw him a rope as he dropped past. He caught hold of
it, and hand over hand he hauled himself on board into the
mizzen-chains. From thence jumping into the waist, he shook himself
dry, like a Newfoundland dog, and went forward again to his duty, as if
nothing had happened.

"Peter," he observed afterwards to me, when we were together, "if I
never had any religion before, I think I should have some now. You see,
when I felt myself going, I thought it was all up with me, and never was
so surprised in my life as when I found myself in the water. Tell me,
Peter, do you think it was God who made the foresail belly out at the
moment it did?"

"I think it was by His will it so happened," I answered. "I don't think
chance did it."

"But do you think He would take the trouble to look after such a poor
fellow as I am?" he asked.

"A sparrow, we are told by the Bible, falls not to the ground that He
knows not of," observed Andrew Thompson, who had sat himself down near
us. "Then don't you think, messmate, He would look after a human being,
with a soul to be saved?"

"I feel that He preserved my life; but I don't understand it," replied
Terence.

"No, messmate, none of us can understand His mysteries. We see the
earth and the sky and sea--the sun and moon rise and set--we feel the
wind blow, and the snow and the rain fall. But we cannot comprehend how
all this is ordered, though we must acknowledge that it is for our good;
and we feel that the power of the Ruler of all is so much greater than
we can understand, that it is hope less to attempt it. But I say,
messmate, that is no reason why we should not believe that all these
things are; but, on the contrary, that God, who creates and cares for
the smallest birds, watches over us also."

We both acknowledged the truth of Andrew's creed; and let me assure my
young friends that a blessed comfort it was to us afterwards, when
dangers, such as few have surmounted, surrounded us