Mr. Seagrave was the first who awoke and rose from his bed on the ensuing morning. He stepped out of the tent, and looked around him. The sky was clear and brilliant. A light breeze ruffled o'er the surface of the water, and the tiny waves rippled one after another upon the white sand of the cove. To the left of the cove the land rose, forming small hills, behind which appeared the continuation of the cocoa-nut groves.
To the right, a low ridge of coral rocks rose almost as a wall from the sea, and joined the herbage and brushwood at about a hundred paces, while the wreck of the Pacific, lying like some huge stranded monster, formed the prominent feature in the landscape. The sun was powerful where its beams could penetrate; but where Mr. Seagrave stood, the cocoa-nuts waved their feathery leaves to the wind, and offered an impervious shade. A feeling of the extreme beauty of the scene, subdued by the melancholy created by the sight of the wrecked vessel, pervaded the mind of Mr. Seagrave as he meditated over it.
"Yes," thought he, "if, tired with the world and its anxieties, I had sought an abode of peace and beauty, it would have been on a spot like this. How lovely is the scene! - what calm - what content - what a sweet sadness does it create! How mercifully have we been preserved when all hope appeared to be gone; and how bountifully have we been provided for, now that we have been saved, - and yet I have dared to repine, when I ought to be full of gratitude! May God forgive me! Wife, children, all safe, nothing to regret but a few worldly goods and a seclusion from the world for a time - yes, but for how long a time -
What! rebellious still! - for the time that it shall please God in his wisdom to ordain." Mr. Seagrave turned back to his tent. William, Tommy, and old Ready still remained fast asleep. "Excellent old man!" thought Mr. Seagrave. "What a heart of oak is hid under that rugged bark! - Had it not been for his devotion where might I and all those dear helpless creatures have been now?"
The dogs, who had crept into the tent and laid themselves down upon the mattresses by the side of William and Tommy, now fawned upon Mr. Seagrave. William woke up with their whining, and having received a caution from his father not to wake Ready, he dressed himself and came out.
"Had I not better call Juno, father?" said William; "I think I can, without waking mamma, if she is asleep."
"Then do, if you can, my boy; and I will see what cooking utensils Ready has brought on shore."
William soon returned to his father, stating that his mother was in a sound sleep, and that Juno had got up without waking her or the two children.
"Well, we'll see if we cannot get some breakfast ready for them, William. Those dry cocoa-nut leaves will make an excellent fire."
"But, father, how are we to light the fire? we have no tinder-box or matches."
