leep,
it was some minutes ere he realized what had befallen him or whither he
was going, and the first warning he had of this rush straight upon
certain destruction was the dull roar of the distant whirlpool, which,
the tide being now full ebb, was just at the height of its fury.

Fully roused at last, Mads Nilssen seized his oars and pulled till they
seemed on the point of snapping; but all in vain.

Faster and faster the boat was whirled along--nearer and nearer it drew
to the terrible ring of white foam that marked the deadly whirl. And now
he could see plainly the grim crag that kept watch over that ghastly
abyss, and now he almost touched its outermost eddy--and now he was
dragged into it and began to spin dizzily round in lessening circles
nearer and nearer to his doom.

And all this while the dancing ripples sparkled gaily around him, the
sun shone gloriously in a cloudless sky, the white-winged sea-birds
soared rejoicingly overhead and seemed to mock him with their shrill
cries.

It was hard to die amid all this brightness and beauty; but die he must,
for there was no way of escape. Even in this dire strait, however, with
the hungry waves leaping around him, the brave boy did not lose his
presence of mind. One faint chance was still left to him, and he seized
it.

As the boat made its final whirl around the central crag before plunging
down into the depths below, he sprang upon the gunwale, and, exerting
all his wonderful agility, made a desperate leap that landed him on the
lowest ledge of the rock, bruised, bleeding, dizzy, but _saved_ for the
moment. In another instant the deserted boat had vanished forever into
the roaring gulf below.

To all appearance the bold lad had escaped one death only to perish by
another more lingering and painful; but even now he did not despair.

He remembered to have heard that just at full flood tide the whirlpool
was not dangerous, and he determined to watch for the subsiding of its
fury and then plunge in and take his chance of being able to swim ashore
or to fall in with a boat.

But what should he do to fill up the long hours that lay between? He
felt that the dizzy dance of the whirling waters around him, and their
ceaseless roar, were already beginning to unstring his nerves and make
his brain reel; and he knew that if he could not find some way to
counteract their paralyzing influence, he must soon become helpless and
fall headlong into the abyss.

Just then h