a resting place to a nameless
waif as to a crowned monarch.

When the great waves broke over the drifting vessel the rush of water
must have swept him away, only that he had been wise enough to lash
himself to the stump of the mizzen-mast.

During a little lull in the tempest someone joined him, also using the
whipping rope-ends to secure his hold.

Darry saw by the aid of the darting lightning that it was his good
friend, the captain; and with his thoughts still taken up with the peril
of his situation he repeated the question that only the mocking winds
had heard before:

"Will we ever weather this storm, captain?"

"I fear not, my lad," replied the master of the ship, sadly, "the poor
old hulk is now only a plaything for the elements. It looks as though
the _Falcon_ had reached the end of her voyaging at last. Twenty years
have I commanded her. I have a feeling that if so be she goes down I
will not survive her."

The roar of the gale was such that it became necessary to shout at
times, in order to make one's self heard above the elements.

"Are we near the coast?" asked the boy, anxiously; for he knew that such
a thing must double their danger.

"I am afraid it is only too true, though the storm has been so prolonged
that I have long ago lost my reckoning," replied the mariner.

"But you told me these coasts are patrolled by brave life savers, who
always stand ready to risk everything in case a vessel is driven on the
reefs?" continued the boy, trying to see a gleam of hope through the
gloom.

"That is true, but alas! I am afraid even the bravest of men would find
themselves helpless in such a terrific blow as this."

"But, captain, surely you have not given up all hope?" anxiously
demanded Darry, trying to face the terrible prospect with a brave heart.

"I never do that, lad. But one of us may not live to reach the shore;
and since it is so, I wanted to have a few last words with you, and then
I must return to my duty, which is to try and steer this drifting hulk
until the end comes."

He reached out his hand.

The boy eagerly clutched it, and there, as the lightning flashed, he
looked into the kind face of his benefactor.

Something seemed to tell him that it was the last time he would ever
feel the pressure of that friendly hand, and this thought alarmed him as
the storm had thus far been unable to do.

"Listen, and take heed, my lad," said the skipper, earnestly, "it may be
that Providence