lace to themselves. Here would be a pretty occasion to
throw a boat's-crew on her decks, and haul down yon impudent ensign, which
bears the likeness of this wicked lady, so bravely in the air, if------"

"If what?" asked Ludlow, struck with the plausible character of the
proposal.

"Why, if one were sure of the nature of such a minx, Sir; for to own the
truth, I would rather deal with a regularly-built Frenchman, who showed
his guns honestly, and kept such a jabbering aboard that one might tell
his bearings in the dark.--The creature spoke!"

Ludlow did not reply, for a heavy crash of thunder succeeded the vivid
glow of a flash of lightning, and glared so suddenly across the swarthy
lineaments as to draw the involuntary exclamation from Trysail. The
intimation that came from the cloud, was not to be disregarded. The wind,
which had so long varied, began to be heard in the rigging of the silent
brigantine; and the two elements exhibited unequivocal evidence, in their
menacing and fitful colors of the near approach of the gust. The young
sailor, with an absorbing interest, turned his eyes on his ship. The
yards were on the caps, the bellying canvas was fluttering far to leeward,
and twenty or thirty human forms on each spar, showed that the
nimble-fingered top-men were gathering in and knotting the sails down to a
close reef.

"Give way, men, for your lives!" cried the excited Ludlow.

A single dash of the oars was heard, and the yawl was already twenty feet
from the mysterious image. Then followed a desperate struggle to regain
the cruiser, ere the gust should strike her. The sullen murmur of the
wind, rushing through the rigging of the ship, was audible some time
before they reached her side; and the struggles between the fabric and the
elements, were at moments so evident, as to cause the young commander to
fear he would be too late.

The foot of Ludlow touched the deck of the Coquette, at the instant the
weight of the squall fell upon her sails. He no longer thought of any
interest but that of the moment; for, with all the feelings of a seaman,
his mind was now full of his ship.

"Let run every thing!" shouted the ready officer, in a voice that made
itself heard above the roar of the wind. "Clue down, and hand! Away aloft,
you top-men!--lay out!--furl away!"

These orders were given in rapid succession, and witout a trumpet, for the
young man could, at need, speak loud as the tempest. They were succeeded
by o