e? His heart sank. Had she been engulfed? A
huge roller came roaring up astern. Presently she appeared on its
summit, darting forward with the speed of an arrow; now she descended,
gliding on towards the passage the launch had just passed through.
Willy could not help feeling intense anxiety about her. It seemed
impossible that so small a boat could pass through so fierce a tumult of
water in safety; yet in another instant she was gliding on through the
passage, and, shooting forward, was almost up to the launch.

The crews of the two boats cheered each other as they thus found
themselves in comparative safety, the sound of their voices echoing from
cliff to cliff.

"Let us, my friends, return thanks to Heaven, which has so mercifully
preserved us," said Mrs Morley, who had during the time sat with her
two daughters gazing at the scene, apparently fearless and calm. They
had been so living that they were prepared without flinching to
encounter any danger which might meet them.

The wind blowing directly up the harbour, they ran on, no place
appearing on either side where they could land. A small island was
passed a mile from the entrance, but its shores were rugged, and
afforded no resting-place. On they advanced; point after point was
passed, still no sheltering bay had been seen where they could securely
anchor. At length Harry perceived on the port bow a wide opening. It
was the entrance, he hoped, to an inner harbour, where shelter might be
found. He shouted to the boatswain that he would stand in.

"Cheer up! There's a harbour at last," cried Mrs Rumbelow, as she
surveyed the entrance. The men kept the halyards in their hands, ready
to lower the sails at a moment's notice; the oars were got out, prepared
for any emergency. The boats glided on. Instead of the tumbling,
hissing waters through which they had lately passed, all was calm and
smooth. On the right was a high bluff, with a reef running out from it.
On the left the land was more level, but everywhere covered with low,
stunted trees; while the shores on either hand were fringed with black,
rugged rocks, and ahead rose ranges of hills, some bare and bleak,
towering to the sky, the nearest clothed thickly with brushwood. The
harbour they had entered proved to be of considerable size, extending
far up into the interior of the island. As they sailed on, numbers of
seals appeared--some swimming round them, others resting on the rocks
and gaz