"but trust in
God, and pray to Him. Yes, I've heard say that when people die, their
friends go and shut their eyes: the captain's are open; let's go and do
that for him."

Together they went back to the body, and while Bill held the lantern,
Robby reverently closed the eyes of the dead man.

The _Sea-gull_ continued tumbling about as before, now tossed to the top
of one curling wave, now to that of another; while every now and then a
fresh rush of water down the fore-hatch made the two boys dread more
than ever that she would ere long go to the bottom. They dared not go
on deck to see how matters stood, because they knew that if they did
they most probably would be swept off it; so they sat down on the floor
of the little cabin, and held on by the leg of the table, wishing that
daylight would come and the storm cease.

The night seemed a very long one; so, indeed, it was. Wearied out, they
at length both slept. How long, they could not tell, but a sudden lurch
threw them against the side of the vessel, and they awoke, but with
their senses confused, and neither of them able to recollect clearly
what had occurred. The light in their lantern had burnt out, and they
were in total darkness.

Suddenly Bill exclaimed, "Oh, Robby, where's the captain?"

"Dead," said Robby: "you haven't forgotten that, surely."

"Dead!" exclaimed Bill. "Oh, so he is, and we two here with him alone
in the cabin away out in the open sea. I can't stand it, I tell you.
Where shall we go? what shall we do?"

Terror caused by thinking of the supernatural is especially infectious.
Robby was but a boy. In spite of his better judgment, he allowed his
feelings to get the better of it, and he began to tremble like his
companion. This was but natural. Brought up as are boys of his class,
who could blame him? There were the two lads, with their dead captain,
rolling about in a leaky craft during that fierce gale out in the North
Sea. They dared not go on deck; they feared to remain in the cabin:
they crept over as far as they could from the side where the dead body
lay. Not till Robby again thought of praying did he regain his
composure. With the hatches battened down and the skylight covered
over, daylight could not penetrate in the little cabin. The boys forgot
this, and sat on, Robby at length again falling asleep, but Bill's fears
kept him awake. After a time it seemed to him that the vessel did not
tumble about so much; he was v