A solemn silence prevailed for a while, broken at last by the captain, who said—
“God pity them!” And after a while, he added. “It is strange that men will be so foolhardy! But when presence of mind is lost, even the bravest become crazed.”
“Is there any hope even for us!” said Kate, after a pause. “Where are we?”
The captain looked down on her with admiration, at the firm tone in which she spoke.
“While there is life there is hope,” he answered. “If these old timbers last till morning, we’ll be able to see where we are; and, if near the coast, perhaps help may be had.”
“You are ignorant, then, exactly where we’ve struck?”
“Yes. My reckoning must have been false. I thought myself more than a day’s sail from the coast, and was thunderstruck when the lookout cried, in the middle of the night, that there were breakers ahead.”
“You were on deck?”
“I never go below, when near the end of a voyage, even if I think everything safe. As soon as he spoke, I leaped into the rigging, and there sure enough, I saw the white water flashing near at hand. I hauled the ship close on a wind at once, and began to crowd the canvass upon her.”
“It was the hurry and noise of making more sail that woke us.”