the waves being broken and less
powerful, he contrived to get the heavy canoe ashore again, and, jumping
out, dragged her up as far as he could on the land. When he had done
this, he found to his surprise that the gale had ceased. The tremendous
burst of wind had been succeeded by a perfect calm, and the waves had
already lost their violent impetus.

This was a relief, for he had feared that the canoe would be utterly
broken to pieces; but soon he began to doubt if it were an unmixed
benefit, as without a wind he could not move from this dismal place that
evening. He was too weary to paddle far. He sat on the canoe to rest
himself, and, whether from fatigue or other causes, fell asleep. His
head heavily dropping on his chest partly woke him several times, but
his lassitude overcame the discomfort, and he slept on. When he got up
he felt dazed and unrefreshed, as if sleeping had been hard work. He was
extremely thirsty, and oppressed with the increasing heat. The sun had
sunk, or rather was so low that the high ground hid it from sight.

CHAPTER XXIII

STRANGE THINGS

The thought struck Felix that perhaps he might find a spring somewhere
in the island, and he started at once up over the hill. At the top he
paused. The sun had not sunk, but had disappeared as a disk. In its
place was a billow of blood, for so it looked, a vast up-heaved billow
of glowing blood surging on the horizon. Over it flickered a tint of
palest blue, like that seen in fire. The black waters reflected the
glow, and the yellow vapour around was suffused with it. Though
momentarily startled, Felix did not much heed these appearances; he was
still dazed and heavy from his sleep.

He went on, looking for a spring, sometimes walking on firm ground,
sometimes sinking to the ankle in a friable soil like black sand. The
ground looked, indeed, as if it had been burnt, but there were no
charred stumps of timber such as he had seen on the sites of forest
fires. The extreme dreariness seemed to oppress his spirits, and he went
on and on in a heavy waking dream. Descending into a plain, he lost
sight of the flaming sunset and the black waters. In the level plain the
desolation was yet more marked; there was not a grass-blade or plant;
the surface was hard, black, and burned, resembling iron, and indeed in
places it resounded to his feet, though he supposed that was the echo
from hollow passages beneath.

Several times he shook himself, straightene