The pilot schooner went down and hauled the boat to the surface, but
nothing was found in her except the sand-ballast and a bottle of rum.
Her sheet was made fast, and when the squall struck her she had gone
down like a stone. The Isle of Blasted Hopes was useless even as an
asylum for inebriates.
The 'Ecliptic' was carrying coals from Newcastle. The time was
midnight, the sky was misty, and the gale was from the south-east,
when the watch reported a light ahead. The cabin boy was standing on
deck near the captain, when he held a consultation with his mate, who
was also his son. Father and son agreed; they said the light ahead
was the one on Kent's Group, and then the vessel grounded amongst the
breakers. The seamen stripped off their heavy clothing, and went
overboard; the captain and his son plunged in together and swam out
of sight. There were nine men in the water, while the cabin boy
stood shivering on deck. He, too, had thrown away his clothes, all
but the wrist-bands of his shirt, which in his flurry he could not
unbutton. He could not make up his mind to jump overboard. He heard
the men in the water shouting to one another, "Make for the light."
That course led them away from the nearest land, which they could not
see. At length a great sea swept the boy among the breakers, but his
good angel pushed a piece of timber within reach, and he held on to
it until he could feel the ground with his feet; he then let the
timber go, and scrambled out of reach of the angry surge; but when he
came to the dry sand he fainted and fell down.
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