The sole survivor of a shipwreck was cast upon an uninhabited island. He managed to build a crude hut in which he placed the little he saved from the sinking ship. He prayed to God for deliverance and anxiously scanned the horizon to hail any ship that might chance to pass.

One day, upon returning from a hunt for food, he was horrified to find that his hut was in flames. All that he had was gone. To his limited vision, it was the worst that could happen, and he cursed God. Yet the very next day a ship arrived.

"We saw your smoke signal," the captain said.