"Since then I have always felt easier when I have left Hatteras
Light well astern, as we have for this time, at any rate. Well,
there's eight bells, and I must be on deck, so good-night to you
all, and pleasant dreams."

"Is there any such thing as a 'death-light' that warns people of
coming disaster?" asked Ruth of her father, when the captain had
left them.

"No, my dear," he answered, "there is not. The St. Elmo's light,
or St. Elmo's fire, is frequently seen in tropical seas, though
rarely as far north as Cape Hatteras; and as it is generally
accompanied by cyclones or hurricanes, sailors have come to regard
it as an omen of evil. It is not always followed by evil
consequences, however, and to believe that it foretells death is
as idle and foolish as superstitions of all kinds always are."





CHAPTER IV.

A WRECK ON THE FLORIDA REEF.


After leaving Hatteras not another evidence of land was seen by
the passengers of the Nancy Bell for three days. At last one
afternoon "Captain Li" pointed out and called their attention to a
slender shaft rising apparently from the sea itself, far to the