at are you lads making that noise for?" asked Mr Griffiths.

I told him of the raps which had awakened me.

"I thought it was one of you that made them," he said.

"I heard them also," remarked the doctor, from his end of the boat.

The rest of the men were asleep; all of us were inside, and the sound
certainly came from the outside. On this I crawled out from under the
boat, half expecting to see some one standing there, but neither human
being nor animal was visible. The rain had ceased, but the night was
very dark, and there was time for a person after the knocks had been
given to retreat into the woods. Still, I didn't think that it could
have been Jack. I returned to the boat, supposing that whoever had
knocked would knock again. The expectation of this kept me awake, and I
determined that I would try to spring out and catch the person, whoever
he was. I waited, however, in vain, and in less than two hours saw the
daylight coming in under the gunwale.

The surf was still breaking with a loud roar on the rocks, but the wind
had ceased to howl through the trees, and I hoped that the hurricane was
nearly over. The noise I made in getting out from under the boat
awakened those sleeping near me, and the rest of the party were soon on
foot.

The first thing we did was to go back to our camp and see the effect of
the landslip. The spot where we had been sitting was covered with a
large mass of earth, rocks, and trees. We found a hollow in the rock
near the spot, which appeared safe, and here we determined to light a
fire and cook some more of our fish. While most of the people were thus
employed, Mr Griffiths, the doctor, and I climbed to the highest rock
in the neighbourhood, that we might take a look-out for the ship. The
sun was just rising, and cast a ruddy glow over the still heaving ocean
covered with foam-crested seas, which, rolling in towards the shore,
broke into masses of spray as they reached the surrounding reefs. In
vain we looked round for the ship; not the slightest speck of white
appeared above the horizon.

"Can anything have happened to her?" said the doctor, in an anxious
tone.

"She has weathered out many a worse gale than we have just had,"
observed the mate. "My only fear is that in attempting to make the land
she may have been driven on one of the hidden reefs which abound
everywhere hereabouts."

"And if so, what are we to do?" inquired the doctor.

"We must try to reach t