It was almost miraculous that they had been driven in between the reefs at the only visible opening.

A hundred paces in either direction their vessel would have been forced upon the rocks.
"Is this country inhabited ?" asked Blanche, when they had landed, and made fast their boat to a great stone.
"I fear not," he answered; "or, if inhabited, it is probably by savages." "Should that be true, ours will be a sad fate." "I will not desert you," he answered.
They sat down on the dry white sand to rest and gazed at the wreck, with its head high in the air and its stern low in the water.
"We made a mistake in not bringing some arms to defend ourselves against savages or wild beasts," said John.
"Can we not go back for them ?" "Would you be afraid to remain on the beach while I went ?" he asked.
She said she would not, though he noticed her cast nervous glances toward the thickets and forests inland.

As he pushed out once more into the shallow waters lying between the beach and wreck, she came down so close to the water's edge that the waves almost touched her toes.
"You won't be long gone ?" she called in a low, sweet voice, trembling with dread.
"No." He reached the wreck and went on board by means of broken shrouds lashed to the gunwale.

The sun shone as brightly and the sky was as peaceful as if no storm had ever swept over it.

The deck was almost dry, and, the hatches having been fastened, John was agreeably surprised to find but little damage done by the water.