154 DICK SANDS, THE BOY CAPTAIN. " Mrs. Weldon, I am disappointed. I boped to get the schooner into yondcr cove ; but there is no chance now ; if nothing is done, in half an hour she will be upon that reef, I hâve but one alternative left. I must run her aground. It wîll be utter destruction to the ship, but there is no choîce. Your safety is the first and paramount con- sidération." " Do you mean that there is no other course to be taken, Uick ?" " None whatever," said Dîck decidedly. " It must be as you will," she said. Forthwith ensued the agitating préparations for strand- ing. Mrs. Weldon, Jack, Cousin Benedîct, and Nan were provided with life-belts, while Dick and the negroes made themselves ready for being dashed into the waves. Every précaution that the emergency admitted was duly taken. Mrs. Weldon was entrusted to the spécial charge of Hercules; Dîck made hîmselfresponsible for doing all he could for little Jack ; Cousin Benedict, who was tolerably calm, was handed over to Bat and Austin ; while Actœon promiscd to look after Nan. Negoro's nonchalance implied that he was quite capable of shifting for himself. Dick had the forethought also to order about a dozen barrels of their cargo to be brought in front, so that when the " Pilgrim" struck, the oil escaping and floating on the waves would temporarily lull their fury, and make smoother water for the passage of the ship. After satisfying himself that there was no othcr measure to be taken to ameliorate the péril, Dick Sands returned to the helm. The schooner was all but upon the reef, and only a few cables' length from the shore ; her starboard quarter indeed was already bathcd in the secthing foam, and any instant the keel might bc e.xpccted to grate upon the under-lying rock. Presently a change of colour in the water was observed ; it revealed a passage bctween the rocka Dick gave the wheel a turn ; he saw the chance of getting aground nearer to the shore than he had dared to hope, and he made the most of it He steered the schooner rîght into the narrow channel ; the sea was
