cer had arrived at the
full conviction, that such was to be his own fate; when, all of a
sudden, some object came under his eyes that caused him to quiver with
joy. Under the glare of the lightning, the barges were visible mounted
on the crest of a huge dark wave!

Only a momentary glance did he obtain of them; for, after the flash had
passed, the boats were again shrouded in the obscurity of the night.

Do Cornelio raised a loud cry, and listened for the response. No voice
reached him. His own was drowned; midst the roaring of the waters, and
could not have been heard by the people on board the boats.

He shouted repeatedly, but with the like result--no response.

Once more was he plunged into the deepest anxiety--approaching almost to
despair--when on the next flashing of lightning he once more beheld the
barges at a little distance from him, but in a direction altogether
opposite! They had passed him in the darkness, and were now rowing
away!

This was his reflection, though it was an erroneous one. The boats were
still in the same direction as at first, but now appeared in the
opposite quarter. This deception arose from Don Cornelio himself having
turned round on the broken canoe, which kept constantly spinning about
upon the waves.

At this moment a rocket shooting up into the dark sky inspired the
castaway with fresh hope; and he once more raised his voice, and shouted
with all the concentrated power of throat and lungs. After delivering
the cry, he remained in breathless expectation, equally concentrating
all his strength in the act of listening.

This time a responsive cry came back--a sound all the more joyful to his
ears from his recognising it as the voice of Costal.

Don Cornelio now repeated his cries, thick and fast after each other,
until his throat and jaws almost refused to give out the slightest
sound. Nevertheless he kept on shouting, until one of the barges,
bounding over the waves, forged close up to the side of the canoe. Then
he felt himself seized by strong arms--they were those of Costal and
Galeana--and the moment after he was lifted into the boot, where, like
the ex-pearl-diver, but from a very different cause, he fell fainting
upon the deck.

It was fortunate for Don Cornelio that Costal had remained only a short
time under the influence of his syncope. Recovering from it, the Indian
had, in a few words, revealed the situation of the canoe. The signal
agreed upon was at