“O son!” cried Issachar, “I feel the news thou hast to tell.  The Eli is wrecked and thou only hast survived.  The moments are precious.  Hark! this house is yielding to the buoyant current.  Stay not for me, whose sands are nearly run.  I am too old to try for life or fear to die, but thou art full of youth and beauty, and Israel needs thee in the world behind me.  Let me bless thee, Abraham, and commit thee to God.”

The water entered the cracks of the cabin; a pitching motion, as if it were afloat, made the son of the negro cling closer to the Jew.

“Father,” he said, “I have passed the bitterness of death.  When the vessel struck and threw me into the surf, I cried to God and fought for life.  The waves rolled over me, and the agony of dying so young and happy grew into such a terror that I could not pray.  In my despair a something seemed to grasp me, like tongs of iron, and my eyes were filled with light, bright as the face of the I am.  Behold!  I am here, and that which saved me has made me content to die by thee.”

The old man drew the dripping ringlets of the younger one to his venerable beard.  The house rocked like a sailing vessel, and the strong sea-fogs seemed to close them round.

“We are sailing to sea,” whispered the Jew.  “It is too late to escape.  The next billow may fling us apart, and our bones shall descend amongst the oyster-shells to build houses for the nutritious beings of the water.  Thence, some day, my son, from the heavens God may drop His tongs and draw us up to Him, as on this night thy father and I drew the casket, many years ago.  Look there!  Look there!”

The heads of both were turned toward the spot where the finger of the old man pointed, and they saw the denuded cross shining in the light of the agitated fire, so large and bright that it reduced all other objects to insignificance.

“It was a light like that,” exclaimed Abraham, “which shone in my eyes through the darkness of the billows.”

“It was on that,” whispered Issachar, “that I called for help, my son, when thou wert dying.  From the hour I dipped it from the water my heart has been warmer to the world and man.  Is there, in all the hoary traditions of our church, a reason why we should not beseech its illumination again before it returns to the ocean with ourselves?  Do thou decide, who art full of wisdom; for I am ignorant in thy eyes, and heavy with sins.”

The cross, resplendent, seemed to wear a visible countenance.  Wrapped in Issachar’s arms, like a babe to its mother, young Abraham extended his hands to the effigy, and in its beams a wondrous consolation of love and rest returned to those poor companions, reconciling them to their helplessness in the presence of the Almighty awe.

“Child of God!” exclaimed the Jew, “thou beauty of the Gentiles, I gave thee life but for a span, and thou seemest to bring to me the life immortal.”