and I saw him now and then,
as the boat swooped upward, and hung almost perpendicularly on the
striped side of a travelling wave. I believe I prayed. An old man, whose
son was rowing the stern oar (cobles only need three oars, two on one
side, and a long one astern) said, "Lord, have mercy on you, my bonny
Harry." Then he sobbed once, and his face became fixed, like a mask of
carven stone.

I do not know how long the wild buffeting lasted, but I know that
presently the bows of the boat appeared returning over a doubling sea,
and as she made her downward flight I saw a black, huddled mass in her.

Then there was a rush, and the coble came up on the sand. Only one trip
was needed. Five men were brought ashore; the other two hands had been
taken overboard by one sea just before the ship lost her rudder.

Years went by, and I returned to dwell in cities. One evening I went to
dine at a club. I was lounging in the reading-room, when a
splendid-looking man attracted my attention. He was a magnificently-built
young fellow, with a fine beard, and bright, steel-blue eyes. When he
rose, I saw that he was perfectly dressed, and when he spoke to a waiter,
his voice seemed deep, and his accent fine.

I looked down at my paper, and I then felt that he was looking at me.
When I looked up, he had risen, and was looking steadily in my face. He
made a step forward.

"Pardon me. How very, very strange!" I said; "I'm at a loss to remember
you. You'll forgive me."

"Don't you remember the Poachers' Hollow, and the brig, and Burke, and
the Differential?"

Then I knew, and we shook hands heartily. We dined together, and he told
me how his change of fortune had come about.

"It all came through that shipwreck," he explained.

"How was that?"

"Well, directly I got home and changed, I sat down and wrote an account
of the whole concern in some very gaudy prose, and I drove the pony into
the town and handed the letter in at the 'Sentinel' office. My account
was printed. Old Mr. Willits--you remember him--sent to the editor to
know who had done it, and then sent for me. He was very grumpy and
crusty at first, but I explained my position to him simply, and he got
very good humoured. He sent me to a tutor for two years and a half; then
I won a Trinity scholarship, and scored two or three other things; then
I went to the University, and slogged like a slave. Mr. Willits helped
me. I did very well in the Tripos--not so well as men who sta