Adrift in the Wilds | Page 8

the most dangerous
place we could be. Let's keep a sharp lookout."
Our friends peered in every direction, as they rose and sunk on the long,
heaving swell of the sea. They saw pieces of charred wood and
fragments of the wreck, but caught sight of no human being until Mr.
Yard pointed, to a dark mass some distance away.
"That is a raft covered with people," said he.
"They seem to be standing still."
"Yes, they merely want to keep afloat until morning, when no doubt
they will be picked up and cared for. Keep quiet, for if we talk too loud
some one may start for us."
"And work hard," whispered Tim, struggling harder than ever. "Aich of
yees shove like a locomotive."
"Good advice," added Mr. Yard, in the same cautions undertone. "Let's
get away as fast as possible."
Hour after hour the men toiled, following the moon, that appeared to
recede from them as they advanced. They had passed safely the debris
of the wrecked steamer, and were again talking loudly and rather
cheerfully, when Tim O'Rooney interrupted them:
"Yonder is something flowting in the darkness."
"It is a boat full of people," said Mr. Yard. "I have noticed it for the last

few minutes."
All turned their eyes toward the spot indicated, and agreed that Mr.
Yard was correct in his supposition.
"I will hail it," he quietly added, and then called out: "Boat ahoy!"
"What do you want?" came back in a gruff voice.
"Can you take four drowning passengers on board?"
"Not much," was the unfeeling answer, "Paddle away and you'll reach
California one of these days."
"How far are we from it?"
"Double the distance, divide by two, and you'll have it."
Nothing further was extracted from the men, but they could be heard
laughing and talking boisterously with each other, and the odor of their
pipes was plainly detected, so close were the parties.
"Thank heaven, we are not dependent upon them!" said Mr. Yard. "If
we were, we should fare cruelly indeed."
"Who are they?"
"A part of the crew of the steamer, who seized the boat at the first
appearance of danger, and left the helpless to perish."
An hour later, long after the boat had disappeared, and when our
friends were toiling bravely forward, a low, dark object directly in front
attracted their notice.
"What is it?" whispered Elwood.
"It is land!" was the joyful reply. "I am walking upon the sand this
minute, and you can do the same!"

CHAPTER VI.
THE CALIFORNIA COAST.
They were safe at last! The four dropped their feet and found them
resting upon smooth packed sand, and wading a few rods they all stood
upon dry earth. Terror, as he shook his shaggy coat and rubbed his nose
against his young masters seemed not the least joyful of the party.
"Isn't this grand!" exclaimed Elwood. "When did the ground feel better
to your feet? Saved from fire and water!"
"Our first duty is to thank God!" said Mr. Yard reverently. "He has
chosen us out of the hundreds that have perished as special objects of
his mercy. Let us kneel upon the shore and testify our gratitude to
Him."
All sunk devoutly upon their knees and joined the merchant, as in a low,
impressive tone he returned thanks to his Creator for the signal mercy
he had displayed in bringing them safely through such imminent perils.
"Now, what is to be done next?" inquired Mr. Yard, as they arose to
their feet and looked around them. "The first thing I should like to do is
to procure a suit of clothes, and I hope I shall be able to do it without
stripping any of the dead bodies that will soon wash ashore."
"What is the naad?" asked Tim O'Rooney. "Baing that it's a warrum
summer night, and there saams to be few in the neighborhood that is
likely to take exsaptions to your costume."
"But day is breaking!" replied the merchant, pointing across the low,
rocky country to a range of mountains in the distance, whose high,
jagged tops were blackly defined against the sky that was growing light
and rosy behind them.
"Yes, it will soon be light," said Howard. "See! there are persons along
the shore that have come down to the wreck?"

"They are some of the passengers that have managed to reach land. I
will go among them and see whether any of them have any clothing to
sell," laughed Mr. Yard as he moved away.
As the sun came up over the mountains it lit up a dreary and desolate
scene. Away in the distance, until sky and earth mingled into one,
stretched the blue Pacific, not ridged into foam and spray like the
boisterous Atlantic, but swelling