ords
were too few for me to gather his feelings; though I had hope that they
were as I surmised.

And so I came back to the fire, and presently, it not being my time to
watch until after midnight, I turned into the tent for a spell of sleep,
having first arranged a comfortable spread of some of the softer portions
of the dry weed to make me a bed.

Now I was very full of sleep, so that I slept heavily, and in this wise
heard not the man on watch call the bo'sun; yet the rousing of the others
waked me, and so I came to myself and found the tent empty, at which I
ran very hurriedly to the doorway, and so discovered that there was a
clear moon in the sky, the which, by reason of the cloudiness that had
prevailed, we had been without for the past two nights. Moreover, the
sultriness had gone, the wind having blown it away with the clouds; yet
though, maybe, I appreciated this, it was but in a half-conscious manner;
for I was put about to discover the whereabouts of the men, and the
reason of their leaving the tent. With this purpose, I stepped out from
the entrance, and the following instant discovered them all in a clump
beside the leeward edge of the hilltop. At that, I held my tongue; for I
knew not but that silence might be their desire; but I ran hastily over
to them, and inquired of the bo'sun what manner of thing it was which
called them from their sleep, and he, for answer, pointed out into the
greatness of the weed-continent.

At that, I stared out over the breadth of the weed, showing very ghostly
in the moonlight; but, for the moment, I saw not the thing to which he
purposed to draw my attention. Then, suddenly, it fell within the circle
of my gaze--a little light out in the lonesomeness. For the space of some
moments, I stared with bewildered eyes; then it came to me with
abruptness that the light shone from the lone derelict lying out in the
weed, the same that upon that very evening, I had looked with sorrow and
awe, because of the end of those who had been in her--and now, behold, a
light burning, seemingly within one of her after cabins; though the moon
was scarce powerful enough to enable the outline of the hulk to be seen
clear of the rounding wilderness.

And from this time, until the day, we had no more sleep; but made up the
fire, and sat round it, full of excitement and wonder, and getting up
continually to discover if the light still burned. This it ceased to do
about an hour after I had first see