e, where, with a piece of wood which he had brought up from the shore
for his pillow, he lay down to sleep with Neptune by his side. He knew
that his faithful dog would keep watch, and that he need have no fear of
being attacked by any wild beasts which might exist in the island. It
was some time before he could go to sleep, but at length, overcome by
fatigue and mental anxiety, he dropped into an unquiet slumber.

It appeared to him that he was dreaming or thinking the whole night
through. Great was his surprise to find it broad daylight when he
awoke. Instead of the hurricane which had lately blown, there was a
perfect calm, though the smooth undulations broke in a line of foam
along the beach where it was not protected by rocks. His fire had gone
out, but he had no difficulty in lighting it by means of his burning
glass. His first care was to make it up. He then set off to collect
some more shellfish.

He had got down to the shores of the little bay which has been before
described, and was scrambling along the reef, when his eye fell on a
figure apparently clinging to a cleft of the rock on the opposite side,
just above high-water mark. The figure seemed to move. Taking out his
small telescope he watched it eagerly, trying also to discover some
means of getting to the spot. He at once saw by the dress that the
figure was that of young Lucas. Was it possible that he was still
alive? He feared not. He lost no time in returning to the beach, and
then made his way along the rocks until he descended to the point where
he had seen his shipmate. A glance at the features told him that the
midshipman was dead, and had probably been washed up by the sea into the
cleft of the rock. How to remove the body was now the question. He
could not let it remain there festering in the hot sun, and it seemed
impossible for him to carry it over the rough rocks on his shoulders.
At last he thought he might tow it to the shore. There were plenty of
materials for forming a raft. He soon lashed a few pieces of wreck
together, when, having launched them, he took off his clothes and towed
them out. Had it not been for the uniform he could not have
distinguished his young shipmate. Extricating the body, not without
difficulty, from the cleft of the rock in which it had been fixed, he
lowered it down to the raft. Then taking the end of the tow-rope in
hand, he began to swim towards the beach. The raft was heavy, and so
weak