ith water, and down she came
with a crash on the rocks, which dashed her to pieces. Ben clung to one
of the fragments. The despairing shrieks of his shipmates sounded in
his ears, and he felt himself borne onward into smoother water. He
clung tightly to the shattered plank, and thought that he saw trees
rising before him. It was not fancy. The dawn had broken, and he was
drifting along the shore. He could swim well, and felt sure that he
could reach it. A few vigorous strokes, and his feet touched the firm
sand. He waded up, and sank exhausted on the dry ground.

The sun was shining brightly on his head before the shipwrecked lad
awoke. He sat up, and, as he recovered his senses, he looked round,
hoping to see his companions; but no one was visible. He rose to his
feet, and shouted out their names. No reply came to him. He ran along
the beach, calling to them; and then discovered that he was on a small
island. His voice could, he fancied, have reached from one end to the
other. With a sad heart, he found that he was alone--the only human
being, as far as he knew, saved from the wreck.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

ON A DESERT ISLAND.

Poor Ben was very melancholy at the feeling that he was alone on that
desert island; still, he was thankful that his own life had been
preserved. "God surely would not have taken me out of the sea to let me
die here by inches of hunger and thirst," he said to himself. "I will
trust in God, as I have always done." As he said this, he put his hand
in the bosom of his shirt. There was safe the little Testament which
his mother had given him, and which he had been reading before the gale
sprang up. He spread it out open on the sand, that the leaves might
dry. "He has spared me this; He has other good things in store for me,"
he whispered to himself. He also spread out his clothes, which very
quickly dried.

Ben had lost his cap, so, while his Testament and clothes were drying,
he sat down and began making another out of some broad leaves which grew
close at hand. While thus employed, and thinking over what he should
do, he recollected that he had not prayed, nor thanked God for
preserving him; so, having put on his clothes, he knelt down in the thin
shadow of a tall palm, and prayed as he had never prayed before. After
doing this, he felt greatly supported; yet his condition was indeed a
forlorn one. He rose from his knees, and looked around. He felt
thirsty, but not v