or fellow is dead!"

"I never thought otherwise from the first," said I, with a keen pang at
this confirmation of my worst forebodings. "It is more than kind of
you, Sir Edgar, to have taken so much trouble in the matter, and I am
deeply grateful to you, the more so that it has been impossible for me
to do anything for the poor fellow myself, the ship having demanded my
whole attention from the moment when the squall first struck us. Well,
he is at rest; his troubles are over; I believe he was a true and devout
Christian, though he never made any ostentatious parade of his religion;
and God will surely be gracious to him and accept his service of
faithfully discharged duty and gentleness and blamelessness of life."

"Yes," said Sir Edgar, "assuredly He will. After the story you told me
of his trouble in the earlier hours of this eventful night I cannot help
thinking that the very manner of the poor fellow's death was an evidence
of God's mercy. It was His hand that struck him down; and I feel sure
that the stroke was dealt in pity rather than in anger. One has only to
look upon the dead man's face and observe the perfect tranquillity of
its expression to be convinced that death was absolutely painless; he
must have passed the dread portal without knowing it. Meanwhile, how
are we faring, captain? It seems to be blowing more furiously than
ever; and are we not dangerously near the land?"

"I was seeking you to speak to you on the matter when you came on deck,"
said I. "It is my painful duty to inform you, Sir Edgar, that the ship
is in a situation of extreme peril, and the time has arrived for us to
prepare for the worst. I must ask you, therefore, to go below, arouse
your family, bid them don a life-belt each--which they will find on a
shelf at the head of their berths--wrap themselves in whatever they can
lay hands on as a protection from the weather, and come on deck without
delay. There is a formidable reef ahead of us; and, unless we can
contrive to weather it, the ship will be on it and breaking-up within
the next quarter of an hour!"

With an ejaculation of dismay Sir Edgar darted from my side and rushed
to the cabin; and as he did so I gave the order to call the watch below.
The outer extremity of the reef--so far as we could trace it--now bore
barely a point on our lee bow; and every sea that met us seemed to be
sending us a good two fathoms to leeward. The hoarse voice of the
seaman forward who wa