ost
simultaneously with the welcome appearance of this transient but welcome
gleam of pallid sunshine, we became aware of a slight but unmistakable
diminution in the fury of the gale; a change productive of such profound
relief to us, worn out as we all were by long-protracted toil and
anxiety, that we actually greeted it with a feeble cheer! Nor was the
hope thus aroused fallacious; for from this moment the sky began to
clear, until within a couple of hours the storm-clouds had all swept
away to leeward, leaving the sky a clear, pure blue, streaked here and
there, it is true, with a tattered, trailing streamer of pinky grey,
that, however, soon vanished; and once more we revelled in the glorious
warmth and radiance of the unclouded sunlight, while the wind dropped so
rapidly that, but for the sea, which still ran with dangerous weight, we
might have made sail again by sunset. As it was, we were all so
completely worn out that I think we were really thankful for an excuse
to leave the boat riding to her sea anchor a few hours longer, while we
sought and obtained what was even more necessary to us than food and
drink--sleep.

All actual danger was by this time past, so we arranged that each of us
should keep a look out for an hour while the rest slept, there being
sufficient of us to carry us through the night at this rate; and I
undertook to keep the first look out. That hour was, I think, the
longest sixty minutes I had ever up to then experienced; for, now that
constant watchfulness was no longer necessary to insure our safety, the
incentive to watchfulness was gone, and overtaxed nature craved so
vehemently for repose that the effort, to remain awake was absolutely
painful. I continued, however, to perform the task that I had
undertaken, and, when my hour had expired, flung myself down in the
stern-sheets, where I instantly sank into a profound and dreamless
sleep, having first, of course, aroused young Lindsay, and cautioned him
to maintain a bright lookout for passing ships--a caution which I gave
orders should be passed on from man to man throughout the night.

When I awoke I found that I had maintained all through the night the
precise attitude in which I had flung myself down to sleep some hours
before; it appeared to me that I had not stirred by so much as a hair's-
breadth all through those hours of unconsciousness. I awoke
spontaneously, with the light of the sun shining strongly through my
still close