NORA had brought a little bottle of medicine to prevent sea-sickness, and with this she dosed herself and her friends, and by bedtime on Sunday they thought they were first-rate sailors and not going to be ill at all.
But Ushant was passed in the early hours of Monday morning, and there was a swell in the Bay, and even before breakfast they did not feel quite so sure about being good sailors. Elizabeth would much rather not have gone in to breakfast, but she did not like to own it, and went. It was quite a comfort during the morning to find that Nora and Gertrude, and even Mrs. Eddis, who had been to Morocco before, were none of them feeling very well. Lunch? No, thank you! nor dinner either; they were all in their berths.
But they did not stay there very long, for although the ship rolled a good deal, the sun was shining gloriously and the air was delicious. Even Gertrude, the delicate one of the party, was up and on deck next morning, and the wind gave them such a hearty greeting that they soon felt a little better, and were able to enjoy the big curling waves and their first view of the coast of Spain.
There were visitors, too, on the ship that morning, pretty little linnets, tired in their flight, made use of it as a resting-place, while poor, deluded butterflies were seen sporting over the dazzling waves, which could only mean death to them if once they touched their fragile wings.
And now they had passed Cape Finisterre and were steaming down the coast, close in to shore, so that they had a good view of the seaside towns and pretty little villages of Portugal, nestling at the foot of sheltering hills.
Away in the distance and perched aloft on a mountain ridge, they saw what they were told was Cintra, once the summer palace of the kings of Portugal, where the body of poor King Carlos was taken after his assassination. And then after Cape Roca the scenery changed, and the low, sandy shores of the Tagus estuary came in sight.
After that was passed they were called to the side to look at a school of dolphins at play, fifty or sixty of them, leaping and splashing in the sunlit waters, and frisking their fishy tails with great enjoyment.
And then once more night descended on the sea, shutting out all sight of the land, though far off they saw the gleam of the St. Vincent lighthouse shining across the waters.
During the night the wind sprang up, and it soon lashed the sea into great waves that made the ship pitch in a very uncomfortable way and banished sleep.
Elizabeth thought of Jonah as she lay listening to wind and waves. Perhaps he was very tired, poor man, fleeing as he was from the presence of the Lord, that he was able to sleep in such a storm; but even so, it was a wonder that his conscience did not keep him awake, seeing that he feared the Lord, the God of heaven, and knew that it was He who made the sea and the dry land.
The danger must have been very great that made the sailors at last consent to throw him into that raging sea, when he told them that the great tempest had come upon them because of what he was doing, and that only so would its fury be abated. It is a terrible thing to disobey God, and down there in the depths of the sea, Jonah had to learn a terrible lesson; but it was well worth all the suffering it cost him to be able to say: "When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.”
It was because of his own disobedience that Jonah sank beneath the waters; but when Jesus hung upon the cross and bore the judgment of God, the sins for which He suffered were those of others. All God's waves and billows went over Him, the great Sin-bearer.
“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
The unbelieving scribes and Pharisees had asked Him for a sign, and He had said to them: "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
But how different was the humiliating deliverance granted to Jonah, when "the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land," from the glorious resurrection of the Son of God.
It was impossible that death should hold Him, and He rose from among the dead. No human eye saw Him rise, but "there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.”
That, and the empty tomb, was all that the enemies of Christ saw of His resurrection. And now, being raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, remission of sins is preached in His name, that mighty name of which it is said, "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." And, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”