out to
the rescue of his fellow-creatures when a ship had been cast on those
treacherous sandbanks. The hazard was great. He knew that with the
strength of his crew exhausted the boat might be hurled back amid the
breakers, to be dashed on the shore; or, should they even succeed in
reaching the neighbourhood of the wreck, where the greatest danger was
to be encountered, they might fail in getting near enough to save any of
the people.

Every moment of delay increased the risk which must be run.

"Lads, we will try and do it," he said at length; "maybe she has struck
on the lowest part of the bank, and we shall be able to cross it at the
top of high water. Come along, we will talk no more about it, but try
and do what we have got to do."

Just at that instant the words, uttered in a shrill, loud tone, were
heard:--

"Foolish men, have you a mind to drown yourselves in the deep salt sea!
Stay, I charge you, or take the consequence."

The voice seemed to come out of the darkness, for no one was seen. The
men looked round over their shoulders. Directly afterwards a tall thin
figure, habited in grey from head to foot, emerged from the gloom.
Those who beheld it might have been excused if they supposed it rather a
phantom than a being of the earth, so shadowy did it appear in the thick
mist.

"The spirit of the air forbids your going, and I, his messenger, warn
you that you seek destruction if you disobey him."

The men gathered closer to each other as the figure approached. It was
now seen to be that of a tall, gaunt woman. Her loose cloak and the
long grey hair which hung over her shoulders blew out in the wind,
giving her face a wild and weird look, for she wore no covering to
restrain her locks, with the exception of a mass of dry dark seaweed,
formed in the shape of a crown, twisted round the top of her head.

"I have seen the ship you are about to visit. I knew what her fate
would be even yesternight when she was floating proudly on the ocean;
she was doomed to destruction, and so will be all those who venture on
board her. If you go out to her, I tell you that none of you will
return. I warn you, Adam Halliburt, and I warn you all! Go not out to
her, she is doomed! she is doomed! she is doomed!"

As the woman uttered these words she disappeared in the darkness. The
men stood irresolute.

"What, lads, are you to be frightened at what `Sal of the Salt Sea'
says, or `Silly Sally,' as some of you c