le the wind shifted to
the north-west, and in a short time was blowing a heavy gale. The sea
got up, and the water every now and then, notwithstanding our high
sides, broke aboard, and we had to take to baling. Night came on, and
matters grew worse.

We all had confidence in Mr Griffiths's skill; and as he had, by his
good seamanship, preserved our lives before, we hoped that we should
again escape. At length he determined to try his former plan, and,
heaving the boat to, we cast out a raft, formed by the oars, and rode to
it. The gale, however, increased, and seemed likely to turn into a
regular typhoon.

There was no sleep for any of us that night; all hands had to keep
baling, while a heavier sea than we had yet encountered broke aboard and
carried away a large portion of our provisions, besides drowning all the
fowl in the hen-coop. Most of us, I suspect, began to think that we
should never see another sunrise. It seemed a wonder, indeed, that the
boat escaped being knocked to pieces. Had it continued long, we must
have gone down. Towards morning, however, the wind moderated, and
before noon we were able to haul the raft aboard and once more make
sail. But there we were on the wide ocean, with but scanty provisions
and a sorely battered boat.

The weather still looked unsettled, and we feared that we should have
another bad night of it. The greater part of the day had gone by, when
Brown, who was at the helm while the mate was taking some rest, suddenly
exclaimed--

"A sail! A sail! She's standing this way."

We all looked out to the northward, and there made out a large vessel
steering directly for us.

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.

ON BOARD OUR OLD SHIP--HER VOYAGE THROUGH EASTERN SEAS.

The doctor awoke Mr Griffiths to tell him the good news. He at once
hove the boat to. We sat eagerly watching the stranger. She could not
possibly at present see us, and might alter her course before she came
near enough to do so. Her topsails rose above the horizon, then in a
short time her courses were seen, and then her hull itself as she came
on swiftly before the breeze. I saw Mr Griffiths several times rub his
eyes, then he stood up and looked fixedly at her.

"Brown," he said, "did you ever see that ship before?"

"Well, I was thinking that the same sail-maker cut her topsails that cut
the _Intrepid's_; but there's no wonder in that," answered Brown.

"What do you say to that white patch in the he