l was the seething of the sea as
it advanced in a succession of great breaking "rollers" into the bay,
and churned itself white among the rocks.

Out among these billows, scarce visible in the midst of the conflicting
elements, were seen the dark hull, shattered masts, and riven sails of a
large brig, over which the waves made clear breaches continually.

In the little harbour of the seaport, which was named Covelly, a number
of strong men were engaged in hastily launching a new lifeboat, which
had been placed at that station only three weeks before, while,
clustering about the pier, and behind every sheltered nook along the
shore, were hundreds of excited spectators, not a few of whom were
women.

Much earnest talk had there been among the gossips in the town when the
lifeboat referred to arrived. Deep, and nautically learned, were the
discussions that had been held as to her capabilities, and great the
longing for a stiffish gale in order that her powers might be fairly
tested in rough weather, for in those days lifeboats were not so
numerous as, happily, they now are. Many of the town's-people had only
heard of such boats; few had seen, and not one had ever had experience
of them. After her arrival the weather had continued tantalisingly calm
and fine until the day of the storm above referred to, when at length it
changed, and a gale burst forth with such violence that the bravest men
in the place shook their heads, and said that no boat of any kind
whatever could live in such a sea.

When, however, the brig before referred to was seen to rush helplessly
into the bay and to strike on the sands where the seas ran most
furiously, all lent a willing hand to launch the new lifeboat into the
harbour, and a few men, leaping in, pulled her across to the stairs near
the entrance, where a number of seamen were congregated, holding on
under the lee of the parapet-wall, and gazing anxiously at the fearful
scene outside.

"Impossible!" said one; "no boat could live in such a sea for half a
minute."

"The moment she shows her nose outside the breakwater she'll capsize,"
observed another.

"We'll have to risk it, anyhow," remarked a stout young fellow, "for I
see men in the foreshrouds of the wreck, and I, for one, won't stand by
and see them lost while we've got a lifeboat by us. Why, wot's the use
o' callin' it a lifeboat if it can't do more than other boats?"

As he spoke there came an unusually furious gust which