lock a slight breeze sprung up from the westward, and
the vessel was standing under reefed mainsail, whole foresail, and
topsail, and jib. Towards nine, the wind shifted to the southward, and
a small dark cloud was observed hovering over the land. This ominous
appearance, as is well known, is often the precursor of a coming
squall, and seems as if sent as a warning by Providence.

The lurid vapour did not escape the practised eye of the mate of the
watch, who immediately reported the circumstance to Mr. Smith. All
hands were turned up, and in a few minutes the schooner was placed in
readiness to encounter the threatened danger.

In the meantime, the cloud had gradually increased in size and
density. The slight breeze had died away, and a boding stillness
reigned around. Suddenly a rushing, roaring sound was heard, the
surface of the water, which a moment before was almost without a
ripple, was now covered with one white sheet of foam, the schooner was
taken aback; in vain her commander gave the order to cut away the
masts--it was too late, and in less than three minutes from the first
burst of the squall, the devoted vessel sunk to rise no more.

At this fearful juncture, a vivid flash of lightning darted from the
heavens, displaying for a moment, the pale faces of the crew
struggling in the water; the wind ceased as suddenly as it had begun,
and the ocean, as if unconscious of the fearful tragedy that had so
lately been enacted upon its surface, subsided into its former repose.

At the moment of the vessel going down, a gunner's mate, of the name
of Meldrum, struck out and succeeded in reaching a pair of oars that
were floating in the water,--to these he clung, and having divested
himself of a part of his clothing, he awaited in dreadful anxiety the
fate of his companions.

Not a sound met his ear, in vain his anxious gaze endeavoured to
pierce the gloom, but the darkness was too intense. Minutes appeared
like hours, and still the awful silence remained unbroken; he felt,
and the thought was agony, that out of the twenty-four human beings
who had so lately trod the deck of the schooner, he alone was left.
This terrible suspense became almost beyond the power of endurance,
and he already began to envy the fate of his companions, when he heard
a voice at no great distance inquiring if there was any one near. He
answered in the affirmative, and pushing out in the direction from
whence the sound proceeded, he reached