at it might be very long before they could hope to get a further
supply of food. The gale had still further increased, and the sea was
rougher than ever. They thus ran on for some hours; Tom manfully sat at
the helm, assisted by Billy, his anxiety keeping him broad awake; for he
well knew that the slightest carelessness on his part might lead to his
own destruction and that of all with him. Unhappily, they had come away
without a compass in either boat, and as the sky was completely
overcast, Green had not even the stars to steer by. The wind, he felt
sure, had shifted several points while they lay under the island, and he
was thus uncertain in what direction he was running. He could only tell
by looking astern at the mountain, which, like a huge beacon, blazed
away all night. There were other islands, he knew, ahead, surrounded by
reefs; and, when morning approached, he judged that they could not be
very far from the nearest. The atmosphere, however, was too dense to
enable him to see the land at any distance. Still he could not venture
to heave-to; his only hope of keeping the boats afloat was to run on,
and he trusted that day light would return before they could reach the
neighbourhood of the reefs. It was too dark to see the hands of his
watch, even when held up so that the light from the mountain could fall
on it.

"I think the sun will rise in about half an hour," he observed to
Archie; "and then I trust that we shall be able to look out for an
opening in the reefs, so that we may run in and take shelter till the
gale is over."

The men in both the boats were all this time employed in baling, for the
crests of the seas came toppling over, now on the quarter, now running
up alongside over the gunwales, wetting the people through and through.
Tom, with his lips closely-pressed together, his hand firmly grasping
the helm, excited the admiration of the men, who knew well that their
lives depended on his coolness and judgment.

"He's a regular chip of the old block; as like the commander as two
peas," observed the bow-man to the man sitting next to him. Tom,
indeed, had always been held in respect by the crew, but that night's
work raised him still higher in their estimation.

They had been running on for some minutes, when a shout reached them
from the master's boat. "Breakers ahead, and land beyond them." Tom
steered straight on, waiting to see what Green would do, still following
in his wake. Green