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Letting go our hold, therefore, away we crawled, grasping at anything we could reach, to prevent ourselves from being rolled away to leeward. At last we reached the forecastle, where the men had all huddled together, but old Surley was not there. This made us very anxious about him. No one had seen him.
Night came on again, and matters had not mended. The glass was still lower than ever. Jerry and I had managed to shift our clothes, so that we were more comfortable than on the former night, and old Surley had had a lesson not to venture on deck again. His coat was thus dry, and we all lay down together to pass the night. Having scarcely closed our eyes the night before, we soon went to sleep.
Our shout was answered from a different direction from that where we had seen the schooner. Earnestly we listened. We could distinguish, too, the loud barking of a dog. "Old Surley is safe, at all events. I am glad of that, poor fellow," exclaimed Gerard. "I like that old dog." We watched eagerly. A light was observed dancing over the seas. Again we cried out.
"Don't let us fire till we get up to the rock; then rest a moment, and it will be hard if we don't hit one of them. If we miss, we'll see what Surley can do for us." Jerry nodded his agreement to this proposal, and crouching down, we crept on till we reached the rock. For an instant we waited to recover breath, then we lifted up our rifles and rested them on a ledge of the rock.
Better surley to accept bravely the enigma of the universe, and strive to lessen the suffering in our own little sphere, believing that same Divine Will is striving with us to mitigate the ills humanity has brought upon itself through blind disobedience and careless indifference to the laws of nature.
The doctor, he, and I, stood together near the gangway, with Surley at our feet, waiting what was next to happen. Meantime the poor wounded Sandwich islander had been handed up, and placed on the deck forward.
We sprang aloft Jerry and I racing who should be first up on the yard-arm. Surley looked as if he would like to follow. Jerry beat me. The ship was still rolling heavily in the swell after the gale. He was springing out towards the yard-arm, laughing gaily at his success, when the ship gave a roll, and away he was sent clear of the bulwarks and into the sea.
Anxiously we hunted about shouting for Cousin Silas, followed by Old Surley, who, since we came on board, scarcely ever left our heels. We naturally sought him for advice. It was, indeed, a relief to us to find him unhurt. In a short time we discovered the doctor and Ben.
While discussing them, Jerry exclaimed that he saw something galloping along the shore. "Is it a bull?" I asked, thinking that we might have to decamp, and looking out for a place of safety. "It comes on very fast," he answered. I jumped up, for I was sitting a little below him, and looked in the direction he pointed. "It's old Surley! it's old Surley!" I shouted. "Our friends cannot be far-off."
"We'll not seem to care about going on shore ourselves," observed Jerry; "but after a time we'll talk about old Surley not being accustomed to remain on board so long, and we'll ask leave to take him a run on the beach; then he'll run on, and we will run after him, till we get out of sight of the vessel, and then won't we put our best legs foremost that's all.
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