exhilarating sound. The plash of the surge, as
it broke on the bows of his little boat, was uninterrupted by the
kindred sound of human voice; and, as it fell upon his ear, it smote
upon his heart. But he replied, waved his hat, and the silent signal was
answered from those on board the ship.

"Well, Barny," said Jemmy, "what was the captain sayin' to you at the
time you wor wid him?"

"Lay me alone," said Barny, "I'll talk to you when I see her out o'
sight, but not a word till thin. I'll look afther him, the rale
gintleman that he is, while there's a topsail of his ship to be seen,
and then I'll send my blessin' afther him, and pray for his good
fortune wherever he goes, for he's the right sort and nothin' else."
And Barny kept his word, and when his straining eye could no longer
trace a line of the ship, the captain certainly had the benefit of "a
poor man's blessing."

The sense of utter loneliness and desolation had not come upon Barny
until now; but he put his trust in the goodness of Providence, and in a
fervent mental outpouring of prayer resigned himself to the care of his
Creator. With an admirable fortitude, too, he assumed a composure to his
companions that was a stranger to his heart; and we all know how the
burden of anxiety is increased when we have none with whom to
sympathize. And this was not all. He had to affect ease and confidence,
for Barny not only had no dependence on the firmness of his companions
to go through the undertaking before them, but dreaded to betray to them
how he had imposed on them in the affair. Barny was equal to all this.
He had a stout heart, and was an admirable actor; yet, for the first
hour after the ship was out of sight, he could not quite recover
himself, and every now and then, unconsciously, he would look back with
a wishful eye to the point where last he saw her. Poor Barny had lost
his leader.

The night fell, and Barny stuck to the helm as long as nature could
sustain want of rest, and then left it in charge of one of his
companions, with particular directions how to steer, and ordered, if any
change in the wind occurred, that they should instantly awake him. He
could not sleep long, however; the fever of anxiety was upon him, and
the morning had not long dawned when he awoke. He had not well rubbed
his eyes and looked about him, when he thought he saw a ship in the
distance approaching them. As the haze cleared away, she showed
distinctly bearing down toward th