stroke, but could see nothing, for the hatch fitted
so closely that not a gleam of light came through it.

Presently I heard him sing out, "I've done it," and I knew by the rush
of cold damp air which came down below that he had got off the hatch.

Still all was dark, but looking up I could distinguish the cloudy sky.
Not till then did I know that it was night. We had gone to sleep in
broad daylight, and I had no idea of the number of hours which had
passed by since then. I sprang up the companion-ladder after Jim, who
had stepped out on deck.

The spectacle which met my eyes was appalling. The masts were gone,
carried away a few feet from the deck--only the stumps were standing--
everything had been swept clear away, the caboose, the boats, the
bulwark; the brig was a complete wreck; the dark foam-topped seas were
rising up high above the deck, threatening to engulf her.

The masts were still alongside hanging on by the rigging, their butt
ends every now and then striking against her with so terrific a force
that I feared they must before long drive a hole through the planking.
As far as I could make out through the thick gloom, some spars which had
apparently fallen before the masts gave way lay about the deck, kept
from being washed away by the rigging attached to them having become
entangled in the stanchions and the remaining portions of the shattered
bulwarks.

Not one of our shipmates could we see. Again we shouted, in the faint
hope that some of them might be lying concealed forward. No one
answered.

"Maybe that they have gone down into the fore-peak," said Jim; "I'll go
and knock on the hatch. They can't hear our shouts from where we are."

I tried to persuade Jim not to make the attempt till daylight, for a sea
might break on board and wash him away.

"But do you see, Peter, we must try and get help to cut away the lower
rigging, which keeps the masts battering against the sides?" he
answered.

"Then I'll go with you," I said. "We'll share the same fate, whatever
that may be."

"No, no, Peter! You stay by the companion-hatch; see, there are plenty
of spars for me to catch hold of, and I'll take good care not to get
washed away," answered Jim, beginning his journey forward.

Notwithstanding what he said, I was following him when I fancied that I
heard a faint groan. I stopped to listen. It might be only the sound
produced by the rubbing of two spars together or the working of the
timber