emember is that
from a sound, dreamless sleep, I was startled into sudden wakefulness by
experiencing a shock of such tremendous violence that my first real
consciousness of anything being amiss was caused by me finding myself
hurled headlong out of my bunk to the deck of my cabin. I fell so
awkwardly that I seemed to land fair upon my right temple, and, after an
instant of sharp pain, I forthwith lost all consciousness for a length
of time that must have been considerable, although I never had the means
to guess it even approximately. But I remember one thing distinctly.
Even as I was in the very act of falling, a terrific rending crash
sounded in my ears, and the thought flashed through my brain: "There go
the masts by the board!"

The return of consciousness manifested itself in a hazy and quite
detached perception that I was being violently shaken by the shoulder;
while a voice, pitched in aggrieved and petulant tones--which I
presently recognised as those of the lad, Julius--exhorted me to "Wake
up!" At first these exhortations produced no particular effect upon me.
I was aware of them, but that was all; they had no definite meaning so
far as I was concerned. I did not even trouble to ask myself why I
should wake up. Then after a period of silence, during which I perhaps
slipped back into unconsciousness, I became aware that water was being
vigorously dashed in my face, while Julius's voice resumed its petulant
appeal.

"Oh, I say, dash it all! do wake up, Leigh," I heard the boy exclaim.
"Wake up, I tell you! Momma's blocked into her cabin, and Sis and I
can't get her out. And you're the only one of the crew left!"

I suppose my wits must have been reasserting themselves by that time,
for these words conveyed some sort of definite meaning to me, especially
that last statement: "You're the only one of the crew left." The only
one of the crew! What crew? Why, of course, the crew of the _Stella
Maris_, in which I had some recollection of having spent a very pleasant
time. Then, as memory began to work, I recalled the tremendous shock
which had hurled me, scarcely awake, out of my bunk, and the jarring,
rending crash that had reached my ears in the very act of falling. What
did these things mean? I asked myself, and the answer came without much
groping for. What could they mean, except that some disaster had
overtaken the yacht?

I opened my eyes, and by the light of a rapidly growing dawn perceived,