Paul was not, as he had his will to be Announced, quite last to leave the breaking bark; Centurion Julius would not have it so. When all except the owner of the ship And the shipmaster and himself with Paul (And Luke, who would not quit the apostle's side) Were safe ashore, he intervened for Paul. Now so it was, the mast to which was tied The rescue-line beneath the strain gave way And fell with a great crash along the deck. On this those four made fast the brave old man Who with his counsel and his cheer had saved So many, counting not his own life dear But seen, the crisis of the need now past, Exhausted, tremulous, and nigh to sink. Then having with great strength--helped by a lurch That now the vessel seasonably gave-- Pushed smoothly overboard the noble spar Entrusted with that treasure of a life, Prompt they plunged after it into the brine, And having reached it, clung to it, and well Buoyed up upon its surging lift, were borne Themselves with Paul by urgent wind and wave Safe to the beach, where those arrived before Met them with outstretched arms and cheers and tears. The island of their refuge and escape Was Melita: the Melitans were kind, And though they spoke a tongue not understood By Hebrew, Greek, or Roman stranded there, And bore the name 'barbarian' from the Greek, Yet were they alien not; in deeds they used A universal language of the heart. Kindling a fire, most grateful--for the rain Fell drenching and the weather was windy cold-- Those shipwrecked strangers all they entertained. Now so it happened that to Paul, he too Ranging to gather fuel where he could And fetching soon a fagot to the fire, Sudden there sprang a viper from the heat, Warmed from his winter dormancy to life, And angry fastened hanging on his hand. The islanders beholding doubted not But here some murderer, saved in vain from death By shipwreck, now was suffering vengeance due. Paul lightly shook the deadly reptile off Into the flames and felt no harm. But they, The islanders, kept jealous watch to see The dooméd victim of those fatal fangs Swell with the venom in his veins, or drop Haply at once a corpse upon the ground. After long disappointed watch, no sign Of hurt perceived in Paul, they changed their mind And said among themselves, "He is a god."