three days and nights they had tasted neither food nor drink. When first
they caught sight of us, I shall never forget their faces. Haggard and
starved, as they looked, they cried for joy, and kissed our hands, and
bade God bless us!'"

"And would they really have died, do you think, grandmamma, if the two
men had not overtaken them?" said Georgie, eagerly.

"No doubt, my love, such would have been their fate. After hearing this
tale, your grandfather retired early to rest, being weary with the
fatigues of a long and exhausting day's journey. He slept soundly, and
though the wind, which had blown a strong gale when he landed, increased
during the night to a hurricane, his slumbers were undisturbed for
several hours. At length he was aroused by a loud uproar, for which at
first he could not account. When he had quite regained consciousness, he
found that, in addition to the noise of a raging tempest, there were
the shouts and cries of men outside the cabin, and loud talking in the
chamber beneath.

"It was evident that something unusual had occurred to disturb the
household. Hastily rising and dressing himself, he made the best of his
way downstairs, and there he found the wife of his host busily engaged
in chafing the hands and arms of a poor half-drowned lad who had just
been brought into the cabin and laid upon the floor. He, it appeared,
had been cast ashore by a heavy swell, but there were others beside him
who were still in danger.

"'Could you manage, sir, to stand against the wind, perhaps you could
carry this coil of rope; they may be wanting it,' said the woman. In
another minute your grandfather was battling against the storm, making