As the light grew I became restless, and at last I left my berth and
ventured to climb the cabin-steps. The fresh air smote upon me almost
painfully. There was no rain falling, and the wind had been lulling
since the dawn. The sea itself was growing brighter, and glittered here
and there in spots where the sunlight fell upon it. All the sailors
looked beaten and worn out with the night's toil, and the few passengers
who had braved the passage, and were now well enough to come on deck,
were weary and sallow-looking. There was still no land in sight, for the
clouds hung low on the horizon, and overhead the sky was often overcast
and gloomy. It was so cold that, in spite of my warm mantle, I shivered
from head to foot.

But I could not bear to go back to the close, ill-smelling cabin, which
had been shut up all night. I stayed on deck in the biting wind, leaning
over the wet bulwarks and gazing across the desolate sea till my spirits
sank like lead. The reaction upon the violent strain on my nerves was
coming, and I had no power to resist its influence. I could feel the
tears rolling down my cheeks and falling on my hands without caring to
wipe them away; the more so as there was no one to see them. What did my
tears signify to any one? I was cold, and hungry, and miserable. How
lonely I was! how poor! with neither a home nor a friend in the
world!--a mere castaway upon the waves of this troublous life!

"Mam'zelle is a brave sailor," said a voice behind me, which I
recognized as my seaman of the night before, whom I had wellnigh
forgotten; "but the storm is over now, and we shall be in port only an
hour or two behind time."

"What port shall we reach?" I asked, not caring to turn round lest he
should see my wet eyes and cheeks.