OR THE DESERT ISLAND. 51

rivulet or spring, if perchance any.of the crew should be
daring enough to attempt to land on such a forbidding
coast; for, although the wind had fallen, the waves were
still rolling mountain high, and there were furious breakers
between the ship and the desired shore.

Courageous and enterprizing, and preferring any dan-
ger to the cruel thirst tormenting him, Count Charles
offered to take the long boat, if some of the sailors would
accompany him. Three of the most experienced stepped
forward; but five, at least, were necessary. The count
promised to guide the helm himself, if a fifth man could be
found willing to share their danger. Philip Merville of-
fered himself. “ Any one but him,” muttered the count,
enraged that his enemy could display courage equal to his’
own. However, as his services were offered for the common
good, he thought fit to accept of them, although with a
very bad grace; and the long boat was quickly lowered into
the sea,

Captain D’Ermincourt, with a melancholy foreboding,
bade farewell to his nephew ; yet he would not attempt to
dissuade him from an expedition which, however hazard-
ous, the necessities of his crew required. As the boat
neared the breakers, the danger seemed so terrific, that one
of the oldest of the sailors proposed that they should return