Out of her sphere - University Library

32 OUT OF HER SPHERE.
even ask himself how it was he had escaped
the death that had seemed so imminent.
It was the merest chance—the waves, as
they poured in from the aperture they had
made in the wall, where for months they
had been trying to effect an entrance, had
thrown him on the upper steps. Had he not
already ascended several, he could hardly
have escaped with life. As it was, he lay
with his head and shoulders above water,
and at last, when consciousness slowly re-
turned, was able, with a feeble instinct, to
move towards the light that came on him
faintly from above.
Had he not recovered when he did, he
must inevitably have perished. The tide
would soon surround the Fort, and every
one of the lower steps be under water.
He staggered in his weakness towards the
door, and then some memory of his wife
returned to him. He could hear the
waters plashing forward, lapping each