Amen was echoed by all.
Their hearts were cheered, their fears calmed, as, amid that dark and raging ocean, those sounds of prayer and praise ascended to Heaven.
Mrs Rumbelow now insisted that those whom she considered under her especial charge should return to their cabin, though she had no little difficulty in stowing them away. The baby had, notwithstanding the cold and wetting it had endured, completely recovered, and still received the attention it required from the young woman who had taken it in charge.
During the day, the other boat’s sail had been continually watched with great anxiety. Frequently it could with difficulty be seen amid the foaming seas; now, as the sun went down, though Willy and Paul Lizard strained their eyes to the utmost, they could no longer distinguish it. Still Harry, in the hopes that their small consort was yet afloat, ordered a lantern to be hoisted to their after-mast, that she might be able to follow them during the night. Happily, the night would not last long. A short time after the sun went down the clouds began to clear away. The beautiful Southern Cross shone brilliantly forth; other bright stars appeared, and cheered the voyagers with their calm light. The boat was now kept perfectly free of water, and all, with the exception of the look-out forward, and two or three seamen required to tend the sails, coiled themselves away to sleep. Harry, though growing very weary, would not resign his post at the helm, and Willy Dicey insisted on sitting near him.
“You know, Shafto, I may never have such an opportunity of learning how to steer a boat in such a sea as this,” he observed.
“I hope you never may, Willy,” said Harry; “but we may thank God, more than my skill, for having been preserved hitherto. We have many a long league to go over before we can reach even the Auckland Islands; and I pray that the weather may continue fine till we get there.”
In spite, however, of Willy’s resolution he often dropped asleep, though he roused himself up on such occasions, and again spoke to Shafto. Harry himself at times felt that, had he not been standing up, he should have fallen asleep too; and he promised Willy that, should the sea go down, he would in the morning let Paul Lizard relieve him at the helm. How anxiously he longed for daylight, hoping at noon to take an observation and ascertain their exact position. As the sun rose, its bright rays shining on the eyes of several of the sleepers, roused them up. Some at first looked bewildered, as if they had forgotten what had occurred. When they found that the sea had gone down, and the wind decreased to a moderate breeze, a gleam of satisfaction, such as had not before been seen, appeared on their countenances. Harry was at length about to summon Paul Lizard to relieve him at the helm, when Mrs Morley and her daughters came out of their cabin. Their countenances were sad and anxious. The boat was now moving rapidly under all sail over the comparatively smooth ocean. Harry had, as soon as he was able, altered the course to the north-east. Mrs Morley looked around, and then at the compass.
“Oh, Mr Shafto!” she exclaimed, “are you not steering back to the ship? Surely you would not willingly desert those on board!”
It was a trying question to Harry. “I would undoubtedly return, had I the power,” he answered; “but my orders were to carry the boat to the nearest land we can make, where food and shelter can be found. Were I to attempt to return, I should disobey those orders. It might take us also three or four days to beat back to the spot where we left the ship, and we might fail to find her after all.”
Mrs Morley hid her face in her hands. It seemed as if her last hope had gone.