Part 6 (2/2)

The first day was passed in exploring the rock to see if there was any place which he ht select for his abode There were several fissures in the rock at the eastern end, and one of these he selected He then went back for his clothes, and brought them to this place So the first day went

All the tiht be in sight After two or three days, in which nothing appeared, he ceased his constant watch, though still from time to time, by a natural iht that rescue ht come He was somewhat out of the track of the China shi+ps, but still not verya shi+p close by The hope of this sustained him

But day succeeded to day and week to ith no appearance of any thing whatever on the wide ocean

During these long days he passed the greater part of his time either under the shelter of the rock, where he could best avoid the hot sun, or when the sea-breeze blew on its su which could distract his thoughts, or prevent hi upon the hopelessness of his situation

Brooding thus, it became his chief occupation to read over and over his father's letter and the inclosure, and conjecture what ht be his course of action if he ever escaped from this place His father's voice seely than ever; and the winds at night, as they moaned round the rock, see like a wild cry, and wail forth, ”Come home!” Yet that home was now surely farther removed than ever, and the winds see than Ulysses on the Ogygian shore, he too wasted aith holukus aion noston oduroainst him, and thebut despondency Driven from home when but a boy, he had become an exile, had wandered to the other side of the world, and was just beginning to attain so up froainst fate, but only to encounter aforce, and this last stroke had been the worst of all Could he rally after this? Could he now hope to escape?

Fate had been against hiht find a turning-point Here helane which the proverb speaks of ”The day is darkest before the morn,” and perhaps he would yet have Fate on his side

But the sternest and eous spirit can hardly ated solitude St Simeon Stylites could do so, but he felt that on the top of that pillar there rested the eyes of the heavenly hosts and of ad mankind It is when the consciousness of utter solitude comes that the soul sinks When the prisoner thinks that he is forgotten by the outside world, then he loses that strength which sustained him while he believed himself remembered

It was the lot of Brandon to have this sense of utter desolation: to feel that in all the world there was not one hu that knew of his fate; and to fear that the eye of Providence only saw hiht of the last words of his father's letter: ”If in that other world to which I a the disembodied spirit can assist man, then be sure, O my son, I will assist you, and in the crisis of your fate I will be near, if it is only to coht to do”

A ht of what seemed to him the utter futility of that promise

Now, as the weeks passed, his whole mode of life affected both hest state of man for the soul to live by itself, as Socrates used to teach, and sever itself from bodily association, Brandon surely had attained, without knowing it, a e of existence Perhaps it was the period of purification and preparation for future work

The weather varied incessantly, cal dull, listless, and glassy under the burning sky; at other times both sea and sky convulsed with the war of elements

At last there came one storm so tremendous that it exceeded all that Brandon had ever seen any where

The wind gathered itself up from the south-east, and for a whole day the forces of the tempest collected themselves, till at last they burst in fury upon the island In sustained violence and in the frenzy of its assault it far surpassed that first storh yet day, the clouds were so dense and so black that it becaht came on, and the storm, and roar, and darkness increased steadily every hour So intense was the darkness that the hand, when held close by the face, could not be distinguished

So restless was the force of the wind that Brandon, on looking out to sea, had to cling to the rock to prevent hi bloay

A dense rain of spray strea its crest all across the island Brandon could hear beneath hi and bubbling of foaed by the waves, was slowly settling down into the depths of the ocean

Brandon's place of shelter was sufficiently elevated to be out of the reach of the waves that ht rush upon the land, and on the lee-side of the rock, so that he was sufficiently protected Sand, which he had carried up, formed his bed In this place, which was more like the lair of a wild beast than the abode of a huhts he had passed there, but never had he known such a night as this

There was a frenzy about this hurricane that would have been inconceivable if he had not witnessed it His senses, refined and rendered acute by long vigils and slender diet, see out through the gloohtning, as though the fabled spirits of the store of his strong nature to sustain himself in the presence of the wild fancies that now ca before his ht he heard theed spectral face, ith suffering and grief, in front of his cave He covered his eyes with his hands, and sought to reason down his superstitious feeling In vain Words rang in his ears, hover his father's letter, now gave shape to the noise of winds and waves

”--In the crisis of your fate I will be near”

”I shall go mad!” cried Brandon, aloud, and he started to his feet

But the storm went on with its fury, and still his eyes saw shapes, and his ears heard fantastic sounds So the night passed until at last the storm had exhausted itself Then Brandon sank down and slept far on into the day

When he awaked again the storm had subsided The sea was still boisterous, and a fresh breeze blehich he inhaled with pleasure