aged to make a fairly hearty breakfast.

And all the time the wind blew steadily, the sea strove mightily, and
the sloop scudded before both like a whipped pup. I would not like to
say how fast she traveled, for I do not know; I was only certain that
even in a racing wind I had never sailed so fast before.

I had become wet through to the bone. Neither the poncho nor the
oilskins could keep me dry when the sea had broken over the sloop. And
the wind was keen and searched me through and through. My teeth were
a-chatter, the cold pricked me like needles, and I was altogether very
miserable indeed. Often had I been soaked to the skin while on a fishing
venture; but there was the prospect of a hot drink and a warm fire
ahead of me. There was nothing in the line of comfort before me now. The
sea remained untenanted and the Wavecrest drove on as though she were
enchanted.

Hour after hour dragged by. The sun did not appear; indeed, rain-gusts
swept now and then across the sea. The waves were so steep that when the
sloop plunged down the slope of one the rain swept on over my head and
only rattled upon my sail. Ragged masses of cloud swept across the sky.
In the distance it really seemed as though the waves leaped up and met
these low-hung clouds.

And how I strained my eyes for some speck to give me hope of rescue!

From the summit of almost every wave I stood up and gazed about
me--especially ahead. Behind were only the ravenous waves seeking to
overtake and swamp me. Ahead I hoped to see the vapor of some steamer,
or, at least, the bare poles of a sailing vessel that could rescue me
from my perilous situation.

I dreaded another night. Indeed, I did not see how I could sail the
Wavecrest until morning without either food or sleep. To lash the
tiller and let the sloop drive on was too reckless a course to even
contemplate.

A man lost in a forest, or on a desert, may be lonely; but a voyager
alone on the trackless and empty ocean is in far worse condition,
believe me! Not only is he lost, but the elements themselves are
continually buffeting him. In all this dreary day there was not a second
in which my life was not threatened.

Finally when I knew there could not be many hours more of daylight, upon
rising to the summit of a great billow, I beheld something riding the
seas not far ahead. For some reason I had not seen the bulk of this
strange apparition before and at first I was sure it was the
turtle-turned hulk