Twelve good hours I slept that night without stirring, and woke feeling like a new man and fit for aught.

The first thing I noticed was the strange calm which brooded over all things, for the wind had gone down, and the long, steady roar of the surf was far off and all unlike the ceaseless rush and countless noises of the labouring ship at sea.

There came a little drone of chanting from the chapel a hundred yards away, and there was now and again the bleat of a sheep, and the homely crow of the cocks, sounding as if shut up somewhere still.

For a time I stayed, enjoying the unwonted calm, and then the sunlight crept into the little window, and I rose, and went out.

My two comrades still slept.
It was a wonderful morning after the storm.