-fated ship and smashed
her rudder to pieces. Instantly she commenced to broach to.

"Get a grip of something to hold you up," shouted the captain. "That'll
finish her. Good-bye, lad!"

Phil grasped his hand for the moment and looked into his face. It
showed more clearly than a book could how desperate the situation was.

Leaving him, he crawled along to Tony.

"Get hold of a rope, old man," he screamed in his ear. "She's going
fast towards the rocks."

Whipping out their knives, they soon obtained two long pieces of stout
cordage. With these they tied two of the large wooden gratings at the
hatchway together, and obtaining some more rope, secured themselves to
the woodwork, so that if the ship went down the hatchings would float
away and support them.

Meanwhile huge billows of green water poured on board, thumping the ship
till every timber quivered. Then one immense wave curled right over her
and smashed her decks like an egg-shell. Immediately all was confusion.
Shouts occasionally reached Phil's ear, and he once caught sight of the
grey-headed old captain kneeling in prayer. A moment later another wave
turned the unfortunate _Columbine_ completely over, and, filling at
once, she sank like a stone.

Phil felt as though he was being smothered. The din of rushing water
rang in his ears, and intense darkness surrounded him. He fought and
kicked madly. Then something struck him sharply on the head, and he
grasped the grating to which he was tied, and with an effort dragged
himself upon it. Close alongside was the other grating, and upon it,
clinging with all his might, was Tony. And thus, side by side, one now
dancing on the summit of a wave, while the other hung in the trough,
drenched with water of icy coldness and almost smothered by the surf and
rain, they drifted fast towards those inhospitable black cliffs against
which the tempest thundered.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN.

SAVED FROM THE DEEP.

More than an hour of misery and terror passed as Tony and Phil clung,
half-submerged, to their gratings, and as they held on, the sound of
huge waves, breaking upon the iron-bound coast to which they were fast
approaching, grew louder. Phil pulled upon the rope which kept their
fragile rafts together and shortened it, bringing them close alongside
one another.

"Good-bye, old man!" he shouted, between two gusts of wind.

Tony's mouth opened and he bellowed something, but the words were
carried away o