Part 15 (1/2)
”Surely she is not leaving us!” exclairave
”No, madam; but she does not see us yet”
”She does! she does!” cried Willian”
”Very true, sir; she does see us Thanks be to God!”
Mr Seagrave e into his ar old Ready's hand He was alhted
As soon as they were a little rave, that they have seen us is certain, and e et our own boat out of the sand We know the passage through the reefs, and they do not I doubt if they will, however, venture to send a boat on shore, until the windjust now”
”But you don't think it will blow harder, Ready?”
”I a to the southward, and until the gale is over, they will not venture near an island so surrounded with rocks It would be very imprudent if they did However, sir, a few hours will decide”
”But, surely,” said Mrs Seagrave, ”even if it does blow, they will not leave the island without taking us off They will coale is over”
”Yes, madam, if they can, I do think they will; but God knows, some men have hard hearts, and feel little for thehad, in thein; but very soon afterwards she hauled to the wind, with her head to the northward, and stood away fro us,” exclaimed Williarave, with indignation
”You are wrong to say that, sir,” replied Ready: ”excuseso bold; but the fact is, that if I was in comale rises fast, and it would be very dangerous for them to remain where they now are It does not at all prove that they intend to leave us; they but consult their own safety, and, when the gale is over, we shall, I trust, see theain”
No reply was raves only saw that the vessel was leaving them, and their hearts sank They watched her in silence, and as she gradually diminished to the view, so did their hopes depart from them The as now fierce, and a heavy squall, with rain, obscured the offing, and the vessel was no longer to be distinguished Mr Seagrave turned to his wife, and mournfully offered her his ar; the remainder of the party, with the exception of old Ready, followed them Ready remained some time with his eyes in the direction where the vessel was last seen At last he hauled down the ensign and flag, and, throwing them over his shoulder, followed the disconsolate party to the house
Chapter XLIV
When Ready arrived, he found theed in such deep distress, that he did not consider it advisable to say anything The evening closed in; it was tiloo passed when Ready broke the silence by saying, ”Surely, you do not intend to sit up all night, Mr Seagrave?”
”Oh, no! there's no use sitting up now,” replied Mr Seagrave, rising up irave rose, and retired behind the canvas screen Her husband seemed as if he was about to follow her, when Ready, without speaking, laid the Bible on the table before hirave did not appear to notice it; but William touched his father's arm, pointed to the book, and then went inside of the screen, and led out his rave ”In otten--”
”Yes, sir, you had forgotten those words, `Coive you rest'”
”I a into tears
Mr Seagrave opened the Bible, and read the psalht” were all the words that passed, and they all retired to rest
During the night, the wind howled and the rain beat down The children slept soundly, but Mr and Mrs Seagrave, Ready, and Willia to the storhts
Ready was dressed before daylight, and out on the beach before the sun had risen The gale was at its height; and after a careful survey with his telescope, he could see nothing of the vessel He remained on the beach till breakfast-time, when he was summoned by Williarave up, andbefore; and they welcorave, ”that you have no good news for us”
”No, sir; nor can you expect any good news until after the gale is over The vessel could not reale - that is certain; and there is no saying what the effects of the gale ale is over; or she ale, and run some hundred miles fro for the island, that she was short of water; the question is, then, whether she may not find it necessary to run for the port she is bound to, or water at some other place A captain of a vessel is bound to do his best for the owners At the same time I do think, that if she can with propriety come back for us she will The question is, first, whether she can; and, secondly, whether the captain is a humane man, and will do so at his own inconvenience”
”There is but poor corave
”It is useless holding out false hopes, sir,” replied Ready; ”but even if the vessel continues her voyage, we have much to be thankful for”
”In what, Ready?”
”Why, sir, no one knehether ere in existence or not, and probably we never should have been searched for; but noe havethey knoe are, and, if they arrive safe in port, will not fail to coreat deal to be thankful for? We may not be taken off by this vessel, but we have every hope that another will be sent out to us”
”Very true, Ready; I ought to have seen that before; but reat, that it al the day, and showed no syht The following day Ready was up early, as usual, and William accompanied him to the beach
”I don't think that it blows so hard as it did, Ready”
”No, Williaht, I have no doubt, will be over It is, however, useless looking for the vessel, as sheway from this It would take her a week, perhaps, to come back to us if she was to try to do so, unless the wind should change to the northward or ard”
”Ready! Ready!” exclai to the south-east part of the reef; ”what is that? Look! it's a boat”
Ready put his telescope to his eye ”It's a canoe, William, and there are people in it”
”Why, where can they have co the breakers; they will be lost Let us go towards the the beach to the spot nearest to where the canoe was tossing on the surf, and watched it as it approached the shore
”Williae island, which lies out there;” and Ready again looked through his telescope: ”there are two people in it, and they are islanders Poor things! they struggle hard for their lives, and seeerous part of the reef”
”Yes,” replied William, ”they will soon be in smoother water; but the surf on the beach is very heavy”
”They won't e the canoe beautifully”