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CHAPTER XVIII.

NATURE RELAPSING.

In this island, where the shipwrecked Anarchists had found a shelter, there was not much variety of climate throughout the year. It was nearly always stormy, pretty generally cold, damp and comfortless; perhaps on the surface of the globe they could not have been cast upon a more cheerless abode.

Yet the season was coming on when what might be called summer would be with them. They could not tell much difference in the nights, which were tempestuous and Arctic as ever, and tried all severely; yet as the weeks advanced the days seemed to be a shade warmer, or they were becoming accustomed to their new mode of life.

Amongst the flotsam and jetsam which they had secured were many articles to comfort the hearts of shipwrecked men. Some cases came ashore—wood-covered, tin-lined, and compact—containing dresses, mantles and furs, which gave the ladies great delight, for they had been sadly bedraggled birds before that grateful advent; and as amongst the articles were a

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