cloak round him, laid him down. Two soldiers, one on the right hand,
the other on the left, lay down near to screen him from the cutting
sea breeze, some others lay across these, thus forming a pyramid of
bodies that secured to the wounded a shelter from wind and rain. The
rest of the soldiers threw themselves on the rocky surface, whereon
they could find a place, and in a few moments were as sound asleep as
if reposing in the most luxurious chamber.

The day closed in, but the fog still continued; the rain poured down
in torrents on those half naked men, and the piercing north-east wind
made them shiver as it swept over them in their thin and sea-soaked
garments. At last all desire for sleep was banished, and rising from
their uncomfortable lodging places, each one looked out into the
darksome night in hopes of discovering a delivering ship. Sometimes
the silence that brooded over the little island was interrupted by the
joyful cry of "a ship! a ship!" but directly after, some foam-crested
billow rising high above the surrounding waves, showed what had
caused the delusion.

The sufferings of the unhappy men after this one short alleviation
again increased, the tide rose higher than before, for the wind had
now chopped round to the west, there was no restraining influence from
it as at first. The sea, as if claiming the rock as part of his
domain, advanced higher and higher, until at last only one dry spot
remained upon which the soldiers clustered so closely, that those who
stood in the middle could scarcely breathe. All believed that death
was approaching--all hope of deliverance had faded from each heart,
and every one of the seemingly doomed party who could control his
thoughts in that dreadful hour, summoned his last effort to be
expended in prayer.

As they stood there in silence with hearts darkened by the utter
extinction of hope, a red light was seen above the rolling waves--its
ruddy glow as it glanced upon the white-capped billows caused those
sunken hearts to beat with renewed activity--they gazed far out upon
the sea, but no man spoke; in a moment more the form of a ship was
seen, dimly but certainly in the enveloping fog. The loud and joyful
huzza that burst from the shipwrecked soldiers proved to those on
board the vessel sent to their rescue, that the rock was still
unsubmerged, and that life was there, and they returned the cheer with
great good-will. It appeared afterwards that some of the sailors h