There was plenty of food on board, but it was impossible for her to reach
it, and she had with her in the cabin only a bottle of milk and two
biscuits.
As night came on, and the vessel still drifted, carried by the wind, she
knew not where, if Elizabeth had not known how to "cry unto the Lord" in
her trouble, how terrible her feelings would have been! As she stood with
her head just above the hatchway, ever keeping her anxious watch, and
searching the horizon in vain for a sail, the wild seas dashing over the
vessel often drenched her through and through. She knew that her cries
could reach no mortal ear; and still the masterless vessel drifted, drifted
on into the night. But Elizabeth had a strong Refuge. She quietly committed
herself and the ship to Him, who is "the confidence of all the ends of the
earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea." And when the long night
wore through, and morning broke, again she searched the waste of waters
with eager eye, but in vain--no land was in sight, no friendly sail showed
white against the red dawn. Far as eye could reach, nothing could be seen
but the sky above, and the heaving ocean below.
But from that time, during the seven days and nights which followed,
Elizabeth never lost hope. When she told the story of those days, she
simply said that she put her trust in God, and that she believed He would
bring her safely to land. For a whole week she never slept, but every now
and then stood up and looked around for the sail which never appeared, or
for the light which, shining through the darkness, should give token that
help was at hand.
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