BEACH COMBERS. 59 



out into the sea, and the surf came pounding 

 down on those rocks with a roar like thunder. 

 No boat could ever live in such a sea, and there 

 was no hope of landing without smashing your 

 boat to match-wood. There was just one thing 

 to be done. The ship's boat must lie well off 

 the reef, and the man must plunge into those 

 bellowing breakers and swim for his life. If 

 he made it, well and good. If he didn't make 

 it, why death on the reef would be luxury 

 compared with death at the hands of those blood- 

 thirsty wild men. So the terrible risk was 

 taken. The daring rush into the foam, the 

 desperate fight with the breakers, the long 

 struggle in the dark, and, at last, life and 

 liberty ! They picked him up and took him 

 aboard the ship. He remained on her and came 

 home with her ; and he felt so grateful to his 

 deliverer that he shipped with him for another 

 voyage, which was his last. For then he married 

 a Boston lady and lived in that city until he 

 died, not long since, leaving a family to mourn 

 his loss. He was an esteemed friend of mine, 

 and his spirit has gone out, I trust, into the 

 Better Land. 



