e; but he did not, and I spent the whole of that
day also locked up in the cabin, and seeing no soul but the steward who
brought my meals to me.

It was somewhat late that night when I turned in, as I had slept well
all through the previous night and did not feel tired; and even when I
had bestowed myself for the night I did not get to sleep for some time,
for I felt that we must by this time be drawing close in to the coast;
and supposing we should fall in with a man-o'-war, how was I to
communicate with her if this man was going to keep me cooped up down
below? True, I might succeed in attracting the attention of those on
board such a ship by waving my handkerchief out of my cabin port if we
happened to pass her closely enough for such a signal to be seen, and if
she happened also to be on the starboard side, which was the side on
which my berth was situated; but I was very strongly of opinion that,
after what had happened, Williams would take especial care to give an
exceedingly wide berth to any men-o'-war that he might happen to sight.

At length, however, I fell into a somewhat restless sleep, from which I
was awakened some time later by sounds of confusion on deck--the
shouting of orders, the trampling of feet, the violent casting of ropes
upon the deck, the flapping of loose canvas in the wind, the creaking of
yards, and the various other sounds that usually follow upon the
happening of anything amiss on board a ship; and at the same time I
became conscious of something unusual in the "feel" of the ship. For a
moment I was puzzled to decide what it was; but by the time that I had
jumped out of my berth and was broad awake I knew what had happened.
The ship was ashore! Yet she must have taken the ground very easily,
for I had been conscious of no shock; and even as I stood there I was
unable to detect the least motion of the hull. She was as firmly fixed,
apparently, and as steady, as though she had been lying in a dry dock.

I went to the side and put my face to the open porthole. I saw that the
night was clear, and that the sky overhead was brilliant with stars; and
by twisting myself in such a way as to get a raking view forward I
fancied I could see in the distance something having the appearance of a
low, tree-clad shore. I also heard the heavy thunder of distant surf;
but alongside the ship the water was quite still and silent, save for a
soft, seething sound as of water gently swelling and receding