weather, which had when they started been fine,
changed suddenly, and ere long one of the fierce gales which are so
frequent in the Mediterranean burst upon them. The wind was behind them,
and there was nothing to do but to let the galleys run before it. The
sea got up with great rapidity, and nothing but the high poops at their
stern prevented the two galleys being sunk by the great waves which
followed them. The oars were laid in, for it was impossible to use them
in such a sea.

As night came on the gale increased rather than diminished. The
Carthaginian officers and soldiers remained calm and quiet in the storm,
but the Capuan sailors gave themselves up to despair, and the men at the
helm were only kept at their post by Malchus threatening to have them
thrown overboard instantly if they abandoned it. After nightfall he
assembled the officers in the cabin in the poop.

"The prospects are bad," he said. "The pilot tells me that unless the
gale abates or the wind changes we shall, before morning, be thrown upon
the coast of Sardinia, and that will be total destruction; for upon the
side facing Italy the cliffs, for the most part, rise straight up from
the water, the only port on that side being that at which the Romans
have their chief castle and garrison. He tells me there is nothing to be
done, and I see nought myself. Were we to try to bring the galley round
to the wind she would be swamped in a moment, while even if we could
carry out the operation, it would be impossible to row in the teeth of
this sea. Therefore, my friends, there is nothing for us to do save
to keep up the courage of the men, and to bid them hold themselves in
readiness to seize upon any chance of getting to shore should the vessel
strike."

All night the galley swept on before the storm. The light on the other
boat had disappeared soon after darkness had set in. Half the soldiers
and crew by turns were kept at work baling out the water which found its
way over the sides, and several times so heavily did the seas break into
her that all thought that she was lost. However, when morning broke she
was still afloat. The wind had hardly shifted a point since it had begun
to blow, and the pilot told Malchus that they must be very near to the
coast of Sardinia. As the light brightened every eye was fixed ahead
over the waste of angry foaming water. Presently the pilot, who was
standing next to Malchus, grasped his arm.

"There is the land," he cri