The first hours of the night were passed, as they sat close together to keep themselves warm, watching the bending flagstaff, and listening to the howling of the wind and the roar of the surf as it broke on the rocky shore. Harry did his best to keep the party amused, and got Paul Lizard, who could sing a good song, to strike up a merry stave; and Paul, once set going, was generally loath to stop. His full manly voice trolled forth many a ditty, sounding above the whistling of the storm and the roar of the waves. Then adventures and stories were told, and yarn after yarn was spun, most of which were no novelties to the hearers. The boatswain, who seldom condescended to tell his adventures except to the other warrant officers, narrated several wonderful ones he had gone through; and Willy and Peter could not help being surprised, after encountering so many dangers and hardships, he should be still living to narrate them. He had been left alone on an iceberg in the Polar seas, when the boat in which he was chasing a whale and all the other hands had been lost. He had been stranded on the coast of Africa, and made captive by the natives; when escaping, he had been nearly torn to pieces by a lion, only managing to scramble up a tree just as the monster's claws were within a few inches of his heels. He had got on board a slaver, which had gone down while being chased by a man-of-war, and had been picked up again just as a shark was about to seize his legs. A ship he had been on board had blown up, when only he and a dozen more had escaped. On another occasion his ship had caught fire, and the crew had to take to their boats. Three times besides he had been wrecked. "And yet, you see, mates," he wound up by saying, "here I am, alive and well, and fit for duty; and if you ask me if I think we are to get out of this place, I tell you. To be sure I do. We are not half as badly off as I have been a score of times." Encouraged by their officer, the men kept up a brisk conversation till daylight dawned. The weather appeared to have somewhat moderated, and Harry hoped, as soon as breakfast was over, to be able to launch the boat and return to the settlement. As the party were descending the hill, however, a seal was heard bellowing in the wood. As it was important to secure the supply of meat the animal might afford, they set out in chase. The cry of the creature guided them towards her; but as they advanced, it became evident that she was going away from them. They therefore increased their speed, hoping before long to come up with her. "May be she has lost her calf; and if so, we must keep a look-out," observed Paul Lizard. "She will prove mighty savage."