The boys waited on deck for some time longer, and finally followed his
advice, and sought refuge below. They were young and strong, and the
fatigue which they felt brought on drowsiness, which, in spite of their
anxiety, soon deepened into sleep. All slept, and at length Captain
Corbet only was awake. It was true enough, as he had said, the fate of
the lost boy rested upon him, and he felt it. His exhortations to the
boys about keeping up their courage, and his stories about lost men who
had drifted to a final rescue, were all spoken more with reference to
himself than to them. He sought to keep up his own courage by these
words. Yet, in spite of his efforts, a profound depression came over
him, and well nigh subdued him. No one knew better than he the many
perils which beset the drifting boat in these dangerous waters--the
perils of storm, the perils of fog, the perils of thick darkness, the
perils of furious tides, the perils of sunken rocks, of shoals, and of
iron-bound coasts. The boys had gone to sleep, but there was no sleep
for him. He wandered restlessly about, and heavy sighs escaped him.
Thus the time passed with him until near midnight. Then he roused the
mate, and they raised the anchor and hoisted the sails. It was now the
turn of tide, and the waters were falling again, and the current once
more ran down the bay. To this current he trusted the vessel again,
beating, as before, against the head wind, which was still blowing; and
thus the Antelope worked her way onward through all that dark and
dismal night, until at last the faint streaks of light in the east
proclaimed the dawn of another day.
Through all that night the boys slept soundly. The wind blew, the
waves dashed, but they did not awake. The anchor was hoisted, and the
sails were set, but the noise failed to rouse them. Weariness of body
and anxiety of mind both conspired to make their sleep profound. Yet
in that profound sleep the anxiety of their minds made itself manifest;
and in their dreams their thoughts turned to their lost companion.
They saw him drifting over the stormy waters, enveloped in midnight
darkness, chilled through with the damp night air, pierced to the bone
by the cold night wind; drifting on amid a thousand dangers, now swept
on by furious tides towards rocky shores, and again drawn back by
refluent currents over vast sunken sea-ledges, white with foam. Thus
through all the night they slept, and as they slept the Antelope dashed
on through the waters, whose foaming waves, as they tumbled against her
sides and over her bows, sent forth sounds that mingled with their
dreams, and became intermingled with poor Tom's mournful cries.
IX.
Awake once more.--Where are we?--The giant cliff.--Out to
Sea.--Anchoring and Drifting.--The Harbor.--The Search.--No
Answer.--Where's Solomon?