'. They undressed you, all in a hurry, put
you in your bunk, told me to look after you, and then rushed up on deck
again, shuttin' me in, just as you did.

"You were insensible then, so I got to work and hunted up some stuff to
make bandages with. Then I opened the medicine-chest and got out the
book of instructions; and while I was trying to find out what was the
proper thing to do I heard the bosun and Chips shoutin' something. I
listened, tryin' to hear what they were shoutin' about; and then, above
the noise of the wind, I heard another sound, like--well, I can hardly
describe it, but you can hear it now, the roar of the surf on the reef.
It grew louder, and louder still, until it was--well, just deafenin';
then I felt the ship hove, first up and then down; then she touched
something, but didn't seem to hit it very hard; I felt a blow, like a
heavy sea hittin' her; I heard the fall and rush of water on her deck,
and a crash that sounded as if the mainmast had gone over the side, then
she struck again--harder--three or four times, heeling over until she
seemed to be on her beam-ends, and flinging me right across the cabin
floor; and all the time I could hear that she was bein' swept by awfully
heavy seas. But after a bit things got rather more quiet. I felt that
we were aground, but still rolling heavily, and I could hear at every
roll a sort of crunching sound, as though the planking of the ship's
bottom was grinding upon something; but the seas weren't coming aboard
now nearly so heavy nor so often as they were, and after a time they
didn't come aboard at all; the rocking motion eased up, and I thought,
from the sound, that it didn't seem to be blowin' quite so hard.

"All this time you were in your bunk, insensible; but as soon as I was
able to stand without bein' flung down again I got some water from the
pantry filter, and bathed your head. There was a nasty cut in it, and
it was still bleedin', but I washed it as well as I could, and made a
pad that I bound tightly over it, accordin' to the directions I found in
the book. And then I think I must have fallen asleep, for I don't
remember anything more happenin' until I awoke and saw the sun shinin'
through your scuttle and the cabin skylight.

"You were still insensible, so I bathed your head afresh, put a new
dressing on it, and then went on deck to have a look round. My word!
Mr Blackburn, I _was_ astonished when I pushed open the companion slide
and