he felt, and
whether he had suffered from the accident to the boat. Roger, aching in
every limb and muscle from his recent struggle in the water, felt
himself carefully over, and was able to assure them that he had broken
no bones.

The stranger now approached and spoke to them, thanking them and
applauding their bravery in coming away to save him, despite the threat
of the gale that was by this time raging furiously. The man, it
appeared, was an Englishman, and, in answer to a question put by Roger,
he confessed that, as the captain had suggested on the deck of the
flag-ship, he had been one of a crew of pirates, and, having incurred
the displeasure of his captain and the enmity of his companions, had
been marooned on the sand-bank with but a small stock of provisions and
no means of obtaining more when those were exhausted; he had been
allowed neither fishing-tackle nor musket with powder and shot, although
the latter would not have been of very much use to him, for the island
was small and so far away from the mainland that birds very seldom made
their appearance there. It appeared that he had been on the sand-bank
some thirty-six days, with the few provisions that they had been moved
to give him, and nothing else beside but the clothing he stood up in.

"But," concluded the poor fellow, who was emaciated and weak to the last
degree, "I have made a bit of a shelter to leeward of the top of this
bank; let us go there, since even it is better than nothing at all.
Your boat's smashed to pieces on the beach, and we shall be forced to
remain here until the storm blows itself out before they can send
another boat. I pray that it may not be long in doing so, for, although
there is water here in plenty, my provisions are pitifully low; in fact,
for the four of us, there is only enough for about two days with the
strictest economy. But come round to my shelter and I will make some
fire, so that you can get your clothes dried, and you will then be a bit
more comfortable."

They were turning to follow their new friend, when Roger once more cast
his eyes out to seaward, and he came to a stand-still, remaining as if
rooted to the spot. The others gazed at him for a moment in
astonishment, not knowing what had come over the lad. As they looked,
however, he raised his arm slowly and pointed to seaward; the other
three, following the direction of his outstretched arm, at once saw the
reason for the horror and despair depic