ed the point of elevation where the block was to be
secured.

My anxieties, however, were below, on the locker where I had left my
sweetheart sleeping, and I was about to descend, when my sight was
taken by a shadow in the grey thickness to windward. It was a mere
oozing of darkness, so to speak for a moment or two; then as though to
the touch of the wand of an enchanter, it leapt upon the eye in the
full and majestic proportions of a great, black-hulled ship, "flying
light," as the term is. She came rushing down upon us under two lower
topsails, and a reefed foresail, pitching to her hawse-pipes as she
came, then lifting a broad surface of greenish sheathing out of the
acre of yeast that the blow of her cutwater had set boiling. She
rushed by close astern of us, and the thunder of the gale in her
rigging and the hissing sounds of the seas as she burst into them rose
high above the universal humming and seething of the storm. Two
figures alone were visible; one in a sea helmet and oilskins at the
wheel; a second in a long coat and fur cap, holding by a backstay. She
vanished with the velocity with which she had emerged; but I could not
have conjectured her nearness till I reflected how plainly I had seen
the two men--all features of their clothing--their very faces, indeed!

Shall we be run down, sent helplessly to the bottom before this weather
has done its work for us? thought I, and shuddering to the fancy of a
blow from such a stem as that which had just swept past us, I descended
the cabin steps. Grace was awake, sitting upright, but in a listless,
lolling, helpless posture. I was thankful, however, to find her
capable of the exertion even of sitting erect. I crept to her side,
and held her to me to cherish and comfort her.

"Oh, this weary, weary motion!" she cried, pressing her hand upon her
temples.

"It cannot last much longer, my darling," I said; "the gale is fast
blowing itself out, and then we shall have blue skies and smooth water
again."

"Can we not land, Herbert?" she asked feebly in my ear, with her cheek
upon my shoulder.

"Would to Heaven that were possible within the next five minutes!" I
answered.

"Whereabouts are we?"

"I cannot tell exactly; but when this weather breaks we shall find the
English coast within easy reach."

"Oh, do not let us wait until we get to Mount's Bay!" she cried.

"My pet, the nearest port will be our port _now_, depend upon it."

This sort of talk m