It was not long now till Violet's anxiety was fully relieved and her heart sending up glad thanksgivings as she found herself clasped to her brother's breast, all dripping wet though he was.
And great was the joy of the young owner of the Curlew when he learned that though she was a total wreck, not a single soul had been lost in her.
CHAPTER XXV.
"Those that he loved so long and sees no more,
Loved and still loves,—not dead, but gone before,—
He gathers round him."
—Rogers.
The morning was but dull and dreary, for though the storm had spent itself, the sky was obscured with clouds and the sea still wrought tempestuously; but its sullen roar may, perchance, have been as favorable to the prolonged slumbers of our worn-out friends, whom the tempest had robbed of so many hours of their accustomed sleep, as the lack of brightness in the sky and atmosphere.
However that may have been, most of them, retiring about dawn of day, slept on till noon, or near it.
In Mrs. Travilla's cottage the family gathered round the breakfast table at the usual hour.
The meal was nearly concluded when a servant brought in the morning paper and handed it to Mr. Dinsmore.