ong he slept he could not
tell; he was awakened suddenly by a tremendous crash that threw him on to
the floor. He struggled to his feet and rushed out almost instinctively,
in obedience to his train of thought before sleeping. As he issued out of
the poop a wave poured down from above, and for a moment he shrunk back.
He was conscious that the ship was fast. There was no longer any movement;
but the sea struck against the stern with a force that made the vessel
quiver. As to going forward it was out of the question, for each wave
swept right over her. The Peruvian had joined him at the door.

"Our voyage has ended, senor."

"Yes, as far as the ship is concerned; but if she holds together until
morning there will be a chance of getting ashore."

As he spoke a great wave struck the vessel. She rose on it, moved a few
yards further forward, and then fell again with a crash that threw them
both off their feet.

[Illustration: "THE SHIP FELL WITH A CRASH THAT THREW STEVE AND THE
CAPTAIN OFF THEIR FEET."]

"There is not much chance of that," the Peruvian said as he rose again,
taking up the conversation at the point at which it had been broken; "an
hour or two will see the end of her, perhaps even less."

"It felt to me as if she struck all over," Stephen said, "and I should
think she is on a flat ledge of rock. I don't think that the wind is
blowing as hard as it was when we lay down. There are some stars shining.
At any rate we may as well go in again and wait. We should only be swept
overboard if we tried to go forward."

He turned to re-enter the cabin, but was nearly carried off his feet by a
torrent of water that swept along the passage.

"That last wave has smashed her stern in," he said to the Peruvian; "we
must stand outside."

They seated themselves on the deck, with their backs to the poop. The
cataract of water which from time to time swept over them from above, fell
beyond them and rushed forward.

"Her head is lower than her stern," the Peruvian remarked. "I begin to
think she may hold together until morning; she has not lifted again."

It seemed, indeed, as if the storm had made its last effort in the great
surge that had shifted the vessel forward. For although the waves still
struck her with tremendous force, and they could hear an occasional
rending and splintering of the timbers astern, she no longer moved,
although she quivered from end to end under each blow, and worked as if at
any moment sh