to pack them upon his
floats. He discovered, however, that the weight was too great, and that
the water, entering through the loops of the stitching in the hide, had
so soaked the rush-grass as to render the floats no longer buoyant. He
was compelled, therefore, to spend two hours in re-stuffing the skin
with such material as he could find. Some light and flock-like seaweed,
which the action of the water had swathed after the fashion of haybands
along the shore, formed an excellent substitute for grass, and,
having bound his bundle of rushes lengthwise, with the goat-skin as a
centre-piece, he succeeded in forming a sort of rude canoe, upon which
the carcases floated securely.

He had eaten nothing since the morning, and the violence of his
exertions had exhausted him. Still, sustained by the excitement of the
task he had set himself, he dismissed with fierce impatience the thought
of rest, and dragged his weary limbs along the sand, endeavouring to
kill fatigue by further exertion. The tide was now running in, and he
knew it was imperative that he should regain the further shore while the
current was in his favour. To cross from the Pilot Station at low water
was impossible. If he waited until the ebb, he must spend another day
on the shore, and he could not afford to lose an hour. Cutting a long
sapling, he fastened to one end of it the floating bundle, and thus
guided it to a spot where the beach shelved abruptly into deep water.
It was a clear night, and the risen moon large and low, flung a rippling
streak of silver across the sea. On the other side of the bay all
was bathed in a violet haze, which veiled the inlet from which he had
started in the morning. The fire of the exiles, hidden behind a point
of rock, cast a red glow into the air. The ocean breakers rolled in upon
the cliffs outside the bar, with a hoarse and threatening murmur; and
the rising tide rippled and lapped with treacherous melody along the
sand. He touched the chill water and drew back. For an instant he
determined to wait until the beams of morning should illumine that
beautiful but treacherous sea, and then the thought of the helpless
child, who was, without doubt, waiting and watching for him on the
shore, gave new strength to his wearied frame; and fixing his eyes on
the glow that, hovering above the dark tree-line, marked her presence,
he pushed the raft before him out into the sea. The reeds sustained
him bravely, but the strength of the c