a few days
reducing him to the weakness of infancy--harder still for him to realise
the approach of death; yet, when he lay meditating there in the silence
of the calm night, a chill crept over his frame, for his judgment told
him that if a merciful God did not send deliverance, "the end" was
assuredly drawing very nigh.

CHAPTER EIGHT.

IN WHICH OUR HERO SUGGESTS A PLAN WHICH GETS THE PARTY OUT OF ONE
DIFFICULTY BUT PLUNGES THEM INTO ANOTHER.

How long Wandering Will would have lain in the midst of his slumbering
comrades, indulging in gloomy reveries, it is impossible to say, for he
was suddenly startled out of them by the appearance of a black object on
the sea, at a considerable distance from the shore. Will's couch was
near the open entrance to the tent, and from the spot where his head lay
pillowed on his coat, he could see the lagoon, the opening in the reef,
and the ocean beyond. He rose softly, but quickly, and went out to
assure himself that his disturbed fancy had not misled him. No--there
could be no doubt about it. Grey dawn was already breaking, and enabled
him to see it distinctly--a dark moving speck on the sea far outside the
reef. It could not be a gull or sea-bird, he felt persuaded; neither
was it a ship, for his eye during the voyage had become a practised one
in observing distant vessels. It might be a boat!

Full of this idea, and trembling with hope and anxiety, he returned to
the tent, and gently awoke the captain.

"Sh! don't speak," he whispered, laying his hand on the captain's mouth.

"I'm convinced it is a boat," continued Will, as he stood beside the now
smouldering fire, while the captain gazed long and earnestly through his
telescope at the object on the sea.

"You're only half-right," said the other, with unusual seriousness, as
he handed the glass to his companion; "it's a canoe--a large one, I
think, and apparently full of men; but we shan't be left long in doubt
as to that; our fire has evidently attracted them, and now we must
prepare for their reception."

"Do you then doubt their friendliness?" asked Will, returning the glass
to the captain, who again examined the approaching canoe carefully.

"Whether they shall turn out to be friends or foes, doctor, depends
entirely on whether they are Christians or heathens. If the
missionaries have got a footing amongst 'em, we are saved; if not--I
wouldn't give much for our chance of seeing Old England again."

The cap