as by this time running.

After supper was over, and we had dried our clothes, wet through and
through by the spray, we lay down to sleep under the rock. Mr
Griffiths assured us that there were no wild beasts or natives to molest
us in the island, though we were not altogether free from danger, as the
trees which grew on the top of the rock above our heads might be blown
down, or the upper part of the rock itself might give way and crush us.

That we might have some chance in being awakened so as to enable us to
attempt to escape, as also to prevent the fire going out, Mr Griffiths
arranged that one of the party should keep watch. The doctor offered to
keep the first watch. Mr Griffiths and the rest of the men then stowed
themselves away close under the cliff. I, feeling no inclination to
sleep, joined the doctor, who was sitting by the fire on one of the
water-casks, every now and then throwing on a few sticks and making it
blaze up cheerfully. I asked him if the ship were likely to return soon
to take us off.

"Not till the hurricane is over," he said; "the captain will not like to
come near the coast for fear of being driven on it."

"Then you think, sir, that we shall remain here long enough to explore
the island?" I said.

"Why do you wish to explore the island?" he asked.

"Because I have a notion that my brother Jack is upon it," I replied.
"They say there are pigs here, and there are, no doubt, plenty of birds,
and he would be able to live as well as Miles Soper and Coal did on Juan
Fernandez."

"But it's a hundred to one--I may say a thousand to one--that the boat
was driven here; besides which, so many whalers pass by this island that
he would have been seen and taken off even if he had come here. You
only raise up such ideas to disappoint yourself. Don't think about it;
lie down and go to sleep."

Notwithstanding what the doctor had said, I could not get the idea out
of my head, and longed for morning, that I might set off and make a tour
round the island with Jim, who, I knew, would be ready to come with me,
as would Miles Soper and some of the others.

Notwithstanding the howling of the wind above our heads, and the wild
roar of the breakers on the rocky coast, contrary to my expectation I
fell fast asleep, and didn't wake till the mate roused up all hands at
daylight. The storm was raging as wildly as ever. Furious torrents of
rain had come down, but the watch had managed to keep in the