When I had eaten a good meal and warmed
myself, a drowsiness came over me again, and I threw myself on the
skipper's bed to rest for a little while.
I must have slept very soundly; for when I awoke the fire was out,
and I saw by the chronometer that it was nearly eleven o'clock. But
my sleep had done me great good, and I hurried on deck and looked
round.
The schooner was labouring aimlessly for the want of the helm to
guide her and keep her on her course; but soon I brought her to
again and she went scudding along bravely. I made no doubt that at
the rate she was sailing I should sight Sumburgh Head early the
next morning.
What troubled me most was that she appeared to be making a good
deal of leeway. This was my one danger, for if I should be taken so
much to leeward as to miss the southern point of the Shetland
Mainland, then I should lose my chance of making Lerwick. Thus I
might possibly be driven northward beyond the islands, and so find
myself in a worse plight than if I had tried to regain the Orkneys.
The sight of a few fishing smacks on the far east inspired me with
renewed hope. They were making north, but they were too far away
for me to signal them. As a precaution, however, I hoisted a signal
of distress in case any passing ship should see the Falcon whilst I
was below or asleep at any time.
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