Cousin Silas calculated that, being carried to the south by the set of the current he should thus land directly under the light. With calm, steady strokes, he clove his way through the yielding fluid. Not a sound escaped from his manly breast, nor could we detect the noise made by his slowly-moving hands, as they separated the water before him. How earnestly did we pray for him!--how eagerly did we watch him, till his head was shrouded in darkness. CHAPTER SEVEN. ROUNDING CAPE HORN. On drifted the boat! Darkness was above us--darkness was around us!-- that small beacon-light the only source of hope. Without it we must have given way to despair. How eagerly, how intently we listened for the sound of Cousin Silas's shout, should he have succeeded in reaching the shore! We came almost abreast of the light; not a sound reached our ears. "It is a long distance for the voice of a man exhausted with swimming to be heard," said Burkett. "He scarcely, too, could have reached there yet." We thought not either. We relapsed into silence and listened. "O Burkett! what of the kelp?" suddenly exclaimed Kilby. "Can he ever swim through it?" My heart sunk within me as I heard the question; what man, even the strongest swimmer, freshly taken to the water, could force his way through those tangled masses of sea-weed? My noble-hearted cousin, was he then to be the first victim among us? "The shore is sandy thereabouts, and unusually free from kelp. There is a natural dock where the schooner lies, and clear water all round." These words spoken by Burkett again revived my hopes. Still not a sound reached us. We could distinguish no signal from the shore to give us hope. Blacker and blacker grew the night. More keenly whistled the wind. The sea-birds' shriek, echoing it seemed from the caverned rocks, sounded like a funeral wail. We fancied that many a fierce albatross was hovering over our heads, to pounce down on us when nature gave way before our sufferings. "Harry, Harry!" said Gerard in a low voice, "I don't think I can stand this much longer. Oh, my poor father! my poor father! how sorry he will be to think that I should often have done things which I knew would vex him." "Silence," said Burkett; "we must try at all events and make ourselves heard, lest Brand should have failed to reach the shore. Now get ready for a shout; never fear cracking our voices."