"
The storm had now been broken and the rain ceased. David thought he
could see the green island, with its trees but it seemed no bigger than
a bush, that he could easily have covered with his straw hat. The land,
still farther away, seemed to touch the horizon, and it looked like a
little cloud.
"Oh," cried David, "how dreadfully far I am from human help. This
island, on which I have been cast, cannot be seen by my people; I never
saw it when I looked out to sea. They will never think that I am here
and they will mourn me as dead. The men will go and get my father, but
no one will come for me. I have often heard them say, 'for fifty miles
out, there is no sign of land.'"
The waters, little by little, grew calmer, so David hurried down to his
boat; but, as he was about to step into it, he noticed that it had
sprung a leak. "Oh," cried he, "my little boat is useless now, and I am
a prisoner on this rocky island. I must stay here till I die and never
again shall I see my people." His face grew white with fear and the
tears rolled down his cheeks.
As David saw starvation staring him in the face, he collected the nuts
that were in the boat, put them into the baskets and carried them to
safety, where he also placed the few utensils that had not been washed
overboard. Then he pulled his little boat as far up on the rocks as he
could get it.
The fear through which he had passed had now exhausted him. He felt
almost afraid to sleep, out in the open, all alone, but he prayed his
evening prayer as he had been accustomed to, lay down beside his nuts
and his few kitchen utensils, and soon was fast asleep.
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