The Morning herald., 1877-01-22

But at last he conquered his 1sshngs,
and advanced. Hope grew strong within
him. He thought Of the time on Coffin
Island when, in like manner, he had heai-
tated before like object. Might not this
like that, turn ont to be ship? And now,
by strange revulsion, all his feelings urg-
ed him on hope was strong, suspense un-
endurable. Whatever that object was, he
must know. ~" IN H.
1t might indeed be rock. He had pass,
ed one shortly before, which had gradually
declined into the bottom of the sea this
might be continuation Of the same, which
after an interval had risen again from the
bottom Il was long and high At one end,
and rounded forward at the other, Such 4
shape was perfectly natural icr : rock. He
tried to crush down hope, 70 as TO be pre-
pared for disappointment. He tried to-
convince himself that it must be : rock,
and could by no possibility be any thing
else. Yet his efforts were totally fruitless.
Still the conviction rem .ined that it was a
ship, and if 30, it coulo bs no other than
the one he sought. '' s
AZ he went on all the marine 'vegitation
ceased The coral rocks continued no fur
,her. Nov all around the bottom lof the
sea was fiat, and covered with ,6ns gravel,
like that which he had touched when he
he first came down. CAe hshes had de-
parted. The sence of solemnily LEFT him /;
only one thing was preceptible, and that
was the object toward which he walked.
And now he felt within him such an un-
controllsble impulse that even If he had
wished he could neither have paused nor
gone back. To 60 forward was only possl-
Bile. 1t seemed to him as though some
external influence had penetrated his body,
aud forced him to move. Again, As once
beforv, he recalled the last words Of his
father, 30 we'll remembered: s
of in that other world to which l am
going the disembodied spirit can assist man,
then be sure, oh my son, | will assist you,
and in the crisis Of your fate will be near,
If it is only to communicate to your spirit
what you o,ghtto do"
It was Ralph Brandon who had said
this. Here in this object which lay before
him, If it was indeed the ship, ne imagined
the spirit Of another Ralph, Brandon
present, awaiting hin. I'll ] w
Suddenly dark shadow passed over hi'
head, which forced him involnntarily tt
look up. In spite Of his excitement {
shudder passed through him. Far over
| head, at the surface of the sea, the boa
was floating, But halfway up were thre'
dark objects moving slowly and lazil,
along. They were sharks. J 6>f
/ To him, in bib loneliness and weakness
!. nothing ever seemed 90 menacing as thes'
three demons of the deep as he stared ul
at them. Had they seen him? that va
|, now his thought. He clntched his knife ii
tirmer hold, feeling all the while ho'
utterly helpless he was, and shrinking
. away into himself from the terror above
, The monsters moved leisurely about, at on
time grazing the tube, and sending down
vibration which thrilled like an electri
shock through him. For : moment b
, thought that they were malignantlv tol
menting him, and had done this on purpos
in order to send down to him a message
his fate.
: He waited. III, srJ. aia, 4.
: The time seemed endless. Yet at Ia,
!. the end came. The sharks could not hav
. seen him, for they gradually moved ava
until they we're out Of signt.
4 Brandon did not dare to advance fo
some time. Yet now, since the spell
this presence was removed, his horror le
q | him, and his former hope animated all b
: soul.
Il TO BE CONTINUED