hstanding this, have been drowned,
had not Solon gone to his assistance, and had we not been ready to drag
him up the beach, for he was quite unconscious when we got hold of him,
and unable to help himself. On looking at his face I discovered that he
was my messmate Sills. Believing that he would soon recover without our
help, we again returned to the doctor. We rubbed and rubbed away with
the greatest energy, till Tom said he felt that there was some warmth
coming back into the body. I felt the same, and this encouraged us to
persevere, till at length, to our great joy, the doctor partly opened
his eyes and looked up at us.

"He's alive! he's alive!" cried Tom, clapping his hands.

At last he sat up and looked about him, trying to recover his power of
thinking, and to ascertain what had happened.

"Thank you, lads, thank you," were the first words he uttered; "I see
what you have done for me. Now go and help those other two who have
been saved. They will want your aid. I will come presently and assist
you, when I am a little stronger. But, lads, where is Mr Henley and
the others who were left here with you?"

I did not like to agitate him by telling him that I feared they were
lost, so I said that they were not on that part of the island.

We had some difficulty in recovering Sills and the seaman, but at length
they came entirely to themselves. The seaman took all that had happened
to him as a matter of course, but Sills seemed to be somewhat horrified
when he found how narrowly he had himself escaped death, and that so
many of his companions had lost their lives. When all the party were
sufficiently recovered to walk, we set off for our huts, which were at
no great distance. I felt very sad, for the doctor told me that they
had seen nothing of Mr Henley's boat, so that I feared she must have
foundered without even reaching the _Orion_. He said that he fully
believed the burning of the ship was a judgment on those who had
deserted us. He had little doubt, from what afterwards transpired, that
treachery was from the first intended us, though, ill as he thought of
the captain and first mate, yet he could not, when he saw us leaving the
ship, believe that they would be guilty of such an atrocity.

During the day they had abused us for not returning, though they did not
propose to fire a gun, or to make any other signal to recall us; and
when night came on the first mate observed that he concluded we shou