ront, all was
pitchy darkness, though, on looking upwards, he could distinguish the
tops of the trees waving to and fro against the sky. "I pray that the
dear old _Dragon_ may have escaped this!" he ejaculated more than once,
as the hurricane, with apparently renewed strength, again and again
hurled itself against the island. At length Desmond roused up.

"You must have had your two hours' watch or more. Tom," he said. "Just
lie down and get a snooze; we may have a long pull before us, and there
won't be much room for sleeping in the boat."

Tom, not sorry to be relieved, lay down, while Desmond took his place.

How long Tom had been sleeping he could not tell, when he and the rest
of the party were aroused by a shot fired close to their oars, and,
looking up, they saw Desmond with the musket at his shoulder, which he
had just discharged.

"What did you fire at?" asked Tom.

"At a bear, or a wolf, or some big baste or other, to be shure,"
answered Desmond. "Whatever it was we shall find out, for it cannot be
far off. I hit it, I am certain of that, for it gave a terrible growl,
and bolted back into the bushes."

The fire had by this time almost burnt out, giving forth a faint glow,
which scarcely afforded light sufficient to see any objects except those
close to them, so that it would be useless to attempt searching for the
wild beast which Desmond asserted he had shot. He acknowledged that he
had dropped asleep, and that, on suddenly awakening, he had seen the
animal's eyes glaring at him not ten yards off. Tom, on looking at his
watch by the declining light of the fire, saw that it was nearly dawn.
A change for the better had occurred. The strength of the hurricane had
much abated, though the tree tops still waved backwards and forwards as
the wind whistled and howled amid the branches, but it was with abated
breath, while the rain had completely ceased. On looking up, small
spaces in the clouds could be seen, through which, here and there, a
star glittered brightly.

Jerry Bird, who ought to have been on the watch before, now took
Desmond's place, and the party settled down again to wait for morning.
Sailors are accustomed to short snatches of sleep. Even half an hour or
less of rest was not to be despised, so that in less than a minute they
all again had their eyes closed in happy forgetfulness of where they
were. Tom required no calling; he had scarcely forgotten in his sleep
what had happened,