e down upon us.

I suppose if we had all stood a-top of a mountain, and seen the whole
remainder of the world sink away from under us, we could hardly have felt
more shocked and solitary than we did when we knew we were alone on the
wide ocean, and that the beautiful ship in which most of us had been
securely asleep within half an hour was gone for ever. There was an
awful silence in our boat, and such a kind of palsy on the rowers and the
man at the rudder, that I felt they were scarcely keeping her before the
sea. I spoke out then, and said, "Let every one here thank the Lord for
our preservation!" All the voices answered (even the child's), "We thank
the Lord!" I then said the Lord's Prayer, and all hands said it after me
with a solemn murmuring. Then I gave the word "Cheerily, O men,
Cheerily!" and I felt that they were handling the boat again as a boat
ought to be handled.

The Surf-boat now burnt another blue-light to show us where they were,
and we made for her, and laid ourselves as nearly alongside of her as we
dared. I had always kept my boats with a coil or two of good stout stuff
in each of them, so both boats had a rope at hand. We made a shift, with
much labour and trouble, to got near enough to one another to divide the
blue-lights (they were no use after that night, for the sea-water soon
got at them), and to get a tow-rope out between us. All night long we
kept together, sometimes obliged to cast off the rope, and sometimes
getting it out again, and all of us wearying for the morning--which
appeared so long in coming that old Mr. Rarx screamed out, in spite of
his fears of me, "The world is drawing to an end, and the sun will never
rise any more!"

When the day broke, I found that we were all huddled together in a
miserable manner. We were deep in the water; being, as I found on
mustering, thirty-one in number, or at least six too many. In the Surf-
boat they were fourteen in number, being at least four too many. The
first thing I did, was to get myself passed to the rudder--which I took
from that time--and to get Mrs. Atherfield, her child, and Miss Coleshaw,
passed on to sit next me. As to old Mr. Rarx, I put him in the bow, as
far from us as I could. And I put some of the best men near us in order
that if I should drop there might be a skilful hand ready to take the
helm.

The sea moderating as the sun came up, though the sky was cloudy and
wild, we spoke the other boat, to know what