captain. At first he listened
somewhat coldly to what Paul said, but he did not grow angry. "I thank
you for interesting yourself about me," he said at last. "You may be
right, and if you will pray with me I will try to join you."

Paul and I thereon knelt down, as we had done before, and Paul, in very
plain language, earnestly besought God to send His Holy Spirit to soften
the captain's heart, to show him that he was a lost sinner, and had need
of a Saviour--to enlighten his mind, and to enable him to take hold of
Christ as the only way whereby he could be saved.

The captain remained for a long time afterwards silent. At length he
put out his hand and grasped Paul's. "I see it now," he said, sighing
deeply. "I have been, and still am, a great sinner. Oh, that I knew
better how I could be saved."

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved," said Paul,
in a firm voice. "That is God's loving message. He sends no other;
and, captain, if all the ministers of your country were to come to you,
they could bring you no other. If you do believe on Jesus, and are to
die this very day, He says to you just what He said when hanging on the
cross on Calvary to the dying thief, `This night thou shalt be with me
in paradise.'"

The captain was greatly moved, and I heard him, between his sobs,
exclaiming, "Lord, I believe, help Thou my unbelief."

Oh how necessary is that prayer! and I am sure it is one which is always
answered, when the sinner is truly desirous of turning from his sins,
and is seeking, by every means in his power, to strengthen his belief.

I had got out my Bible several days before, and I now read it constantly
to the captain, as well as to myself. Whenever I came to a passage
which seemed to meet his case, he desired me to read it over and over
again. Notwithstanding this, the desire was strong within him to
recover, for the sake of carrying home the vessel and her rich freight
in safety. That was but natural, and I earnestly hoped that he might be
restored to health. Instead, however, of gaining strength, he appeared
to grow weaker and weaker.

The calm had now continued for several days. Often as I looked over the
side I saw dark triangular fins just rising above the surface, and
moving here and there round the ship, and frequently the whole form of
the monster could be discerned as it glided by; and when I saw its keen
cruel eyes glancing up towards me, I felt a shudder pass