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"You are no doubt aware, Mr. Kazallon, that these volcanic islands sometimes have a very transitory existence. Not im- possibly, by the time it gets marked upon the maps it may no longer be here." "Never mind, my boy," answered his father, "it is bet- ter to give warning of a danger that does not exist than overlook one that does.
Kazallon, I commend my boy to your care, and mark you, he must never know " His voice was choked with tears, and he could not finish his sentence. But I was full of hope, and, without a moment's inter- mission, I kept my eyes fixed upon the unbroken horizon. Curtis, Miss Herbey, Falsten, and even the boatswain, were also eagerly scanning the broad expanse of the sea.
At about eleven o'clock, the captain came up to me, and whispered in my ear: "Don't say a word, Mr. Kazallon; I do not want to raise false hopes, but I think I see a ship." It was as well that the captain had warned me; otherwise, I should have raised an involuntary shout of joy; as it was I had the greatest difficulty in restraining my expressions of delight.
Lieutenant Walter suffers more than any of us from the scarcity of water, and I noticed that Miss Herbey reserved almost the whole of her own share for his use. Kind and compassionate as ever, the young girl does all that lies in her power to relieve the poor fellow's sufferings. "Mr. Kazallon," she said to me this morning, "that young man gets manifestly weaker every day."
M. Letourneur seems to have taken a peculiar fancy to myself, and constantly talks about Andre. This morning, in the course of conversation, I said: "You have a good son, M. Letourneur. I have just been talking to him. He is a most intelligent young man." "Yes, Mr. Kazallon," replied M. Letourneur, brighten- ing up into a smile, "his afflicted frame contains a noble mind.
Kazallon," said Curtis; "it is not at all an unusual thing for ships laden with cotton to arrive at Liver- pool or Havre with a portion of their cargo consumed; and I have myself known more than one captain run into port with his deck scorching his very feet, and who, to save his vessel and the remainder of his freight has been compelled to un- load with the utmost expedition.
Kazallon," he exclaimed, "if you only knew the bitterness of the agony I feel at seeing this fine vessel doomed to be devoured by flames, and at being so powerless to save her." Then quickly recovering himself, he continued: "But I am forgetting myself; you, if no other, must know what I am suffering. It is all over now," he said more cheerfully. "Is our condition quite desperate?" I asked.
Kazallon," said Andre Letourneur to me a few days after we had embarked, "that our time on board the raft passes as pleasantly as it did upon Ham Rock; and the raft has one advantage even over the reef, for it is capable of motion." "Yes, Andre," replied, "as long as the wind continues favourable the raft has decidedly the advantage; but supposing the wind shifts, what then?"
He made no answer to my impetuous questions, and find- ing he had nothing more to say, I repeated that it was all over now. After a pause, he said, "As long as a plank of the ship remains to stand on, Mr. Kazallon, I shall not give up my hope." But the conflagration raged with redoubled fury, the sea around us was lighted with a crimson glow, and the clouds above shone with a lurid glare.
They are as follow: Mr. and Mrs. Kear, Americans, of Buffalo. Miss Herbey, a young English lady, companion to Mrs. Kear. M. Letourneur and his son Andre, Frenchmen, of Havre. William Falsten, a Manchester engineer. John Ruby, a Cardiff merchant; and myself, J. R. Kazallon, of London. SEPTEMBER 29th.
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