Page:Round the Yule Log.djvu/71

47 The Cormorants of Udrost. 47 therefore, to get rid of Isaac that he might have the harbour in front of Isaac's cottage. One day when Isaac was out fishing a good many miles out at sea a thick, dark fog came upon him, and before long a tremendous gale broke loose, and raged with such a fury that he had to throw all the fish overboard to lighten the boat and so save his life. Still it was no easy task to keep the boat afloat ; but he knew well how to handle his little craft, and how to steer her among the heavy seas, which every moment threatened to swamp her. When he had been sailing at this rate for five or six hours, he thought he ought soon to sight land somewhere. But hour after hour passed and the storm and the thick fog got worse and worse. Then it dawned upon him that he must be steering right out to sea, or that the wind had shifted ; and at last he felt sure that he must have guessed right, for he sailed and sailed, but saw no sign of land. All of a sudden he heard a terrible scream ahead, and he thought it must be the bogie pinging his dirge. He prayed for his wife and children, for he knew now that his last