It may seem singular that any could sleep at all in such a situation.  But we get accustomed, in an incredibly short time, to the most violent changes; and calamities that seem insupportable, when looked at from a distance, lose half their power if met and resisted with fortitude.  The last may, indeed, be too insignificant a word to be applied to all of the party on the wreck, on the occasion of which we are writing, though no one of them all betrayed fears that were troublesome.  Of Mulford it is unnecessary to speak.  His deportment had been quiet, thoughtful, and full of a manly interest in the comfort of others, from the first moment of the calamity.  That Rose should share the largest in his attentions was natural enough, but he neglected no essential duty to her companions.  Rose, herself, had little hope of being rescued.  Her naturally courageous character, however, prevented any undue exhibitions of despair, and now it was that the niece became the principal support of the aunt, completely changing the relations that had formerly existed between them.  Mrs. Budd had lost all the little buoyancy of her mind.  Not a syllable did she now utter concerning ships and their manoeuvres.  She had been, at first, a little disposed to be querulous and despairing, but the soothing and pious conversation of Rose awakened a certain degree of resolution in her, and habit soon exercised its influence over even her inactive mind.  Biddy was a strange mixture of courage, despair, humility, and consideration for others.  Not once had she taken her small allowance of food without first offering it, and that, too, in perfect good faith, to her “Missus and Miss Rosy;” yet her moanings for this sort of support, and her complaints of bodily suffering much exceeded that of all the rest of the party put together.  As for Jack Tier, his conduct singularly belied his appearance.  No one would have expected any great show of manly resolution from the little rotund, lymphatic figure of Tier; but he had manifested a calmness that denoted either great natural courage, or a resolution derived from familiarity with danger.  In this particular, even Mulford regarded his deportment with surprise, not unmingled with respect.

“You have had a tranquil watch, Jack,” said Harry, when he was called by the person named, and had fairly aroused himself from his slumbers.  “Has the wind stood as it is since sunset?”

“No change whatever, sir.  It has blown a good working breeze the whole watch, and what is surprising not as much lipper has got up as would frighten a colt on a sea-beach.”

“We must be near the reef, by that.  I think the only currents we feel come from the tide, and they seem to be setting us back and forth, instead of carrying us in any one settled direction.”

“Quite likely, sir; and this makes my opinion of what I saw an hour since all the more probable.”

“What you saw!  In the name of a merciful Providence, Tier, do not trifle with me!  Has any thing been seen near by?”