almost as dark as
pitch, and there was only the black and terrible sea around them. But
the captain seemed cheerful.

"We'll make it, lads, before morning," he said. "The storm is sinking,
as you can see, and the island is there waiting for us."

In another hour the sea became so much calmer that there was no longer
any danger of the boat overturning. Half of the men who had been rowing
rested an hour, and then the other half took their turn. Robert was in
the second relay, and when he put down his oar he realized for the first
time that his hands were sore and his bones aching.

"You've done well, Peter," said the captain. "You've become one of us,
whether or no, and we'll make you an honored inhabitant of our island
when we come to it."

Robert said nothing, but lay back, drawing long breaths of relief. The
danger of death by drowning had passed for the moment and he had a sense
of triumph over nature. Despite his weariness and soreness, he was as
anxious as ever to live, and he began to wonder about this island of
which the captain spoke. It must be tropical, and hence in his
imagination beautiful, but by whom was it peopled? He did not doubt that
they would reach it, and that he, as usual, would escape all perils.

Always invincible, his greatest characteristic was flaming up within
him. He seemed to have won, in a way, the regard of the captain, and he
did not fear the men. They would be castaways together, and on the land
opportunities to escape would come. On the whole he preferred the
hazards of the land to those of the sea. He knew better how to deal with
them. He was more at home in the wilderness than on salt water. Yet a
brave heart was alike in either place.

"We'd better take it very easy, lads," said the captain. "Not much
rowing now, and save our strength for the later hours of the night."

"Why?" asked Robert.

"Because the storm, although it has gone, is still hanging about in the
south and may conclude to come back, assailing us again. A shift in the
wind is going on now, and if it hit us before we reached the island,
finding us worn out, we might go down before it."

It was a good enough reason and bye and bye only two men kept at the
oars, the rest lying on the bottom of the boat or falling asleep in
their seats. The captain kept a sharp watch for the other boat, which
had gone away in the dark, but beheld no sign of it, although the moon
and stars were now out, and they could see a long d