The two sat looking out on the gloomy waste of waters until the moon, now at its full, rose and lit up the wild scene about them almost as brightly as day. At last they tired of the wild, gloomy, disheartening scene, and, after a short prayer together, stretched out on their couches. Chris was almost instantly asleep but the captain lay long awake, his mind full of their helpless situation, and, of anxious conjectures as to the fate of the two absent lads. His own position and that of his little companion was such as to awaken his deepest fears. So long as the storm continued, their rescue by land or Gulf was impossible. No boat could live amongst the rocks and raging waters which now surrounded them. His long experience told him that the storm was likely to continue at least two days longer.—He had seen similar gales blow for an entire week without a let up. Even after the gale was over, it would take some little time for the waves and water to subside. At the best, they would suffer greatly from hunger before their rescue would be possible. But, to do the old sailor justice, his thoughts were not so much of their own situation as of the absent lads. He could only hope and pray that they had not started to return by water before the breaking of the storm.
As he lay motionless musing, his ear caught a low grating sound as of heavy objects drawn on coarse sand. He quickly sat up on his couch and looked around. In the bright moonlight he could see large dark objects moving over the white sand.
"'Gators, an' a regular drove of them," he exclaimed. "Wake up, Chris! Wake up!"
The little negro struggled up into a sitting position, still half asleep.
"What's de matter, Massa Cap?" he inquired.
"Look at them 'gators, thar's dozens of them. We've got to have a fire mighty quick an' stick close to it."
Chris greeted the sight of the dark objects with a cry of joy.
"Oh, Golly! De Good Lord's dun answered our prayers. Dem's turtles."
The old sailor sprang to his feet and would have dashed for the nearest object if the little negro had not restrained him.