e are past it!" returned Ludlow, breathing heavily. "Let there be no
whisper in the ship--pilot or no pilot, we now sink or swim!"

Trysail had ventured to remonstrate, while there was a possibility of
avoiding the danger; but, like his commander, he now saw that all depended
on their own coolness and care. He passed busily among the crew; saw that
each brace and bowline was manned; cautioned the few young officers who
continued on board to vigilance, and then awaited the orders of his
superior, with the composure that is so necessary to a seaman in the
moment of trial. Ludlow himself, while he felt the load of responsibility
he had assumed, succeeded equally well in maintaining an outward calm. The
ship was irretrievably in the Gate, and no human power could retrace the
step. At such moments of intense anxiety, the human mind is wont to seek
support in the opinions of others. Notwithstanding the increasing velocity
and the critical condition of his own vessel, Ludlow cast a glance, in
order to ascertain the determination of the 'Skimmer of the Seas.'
Blackwell's was already behind them, and as the two currents were again
united, the brigantine had luffed up into the entrance of the dangerous
passage, and now followed within two hundred feet of the Coquette,
directly in her wake. The bold and manly-looking mariner, who controlled
her, stood between the night-heads, just above the image of his pretended
mistress, where he examined the foaming reefs, the whirling eddies, and
the varying currents, with folded arms and a riveted eye. A glance was
exchanged between the two officers, and the free-trader raised his
sea-cap. Ludlow was too courteous not to return the salutation, and then
all his senses were engrossed by the care of his ship. A rock lay before
them, over which the water broke in a loud and unceasing roar. For an
instant it seemed that the vessel could not avoid the danger, and then it
was already past.

"Brace up!" said Ludlow, in the calm tones that denote a forced
tranquillity.

"Luff!" called out the Skimmer, so quickly as to show that he took the
movements of the cruiser for his guide. The ship came closer to the wind,
but the sudden bend in the stream no longer permitted her to steer in a
direct line with its course. Though drifting to windward with vast
rapidity, her way through the water, which was greatly increased by the
contrary actions of the wind and tide, caused the cruiser to shoot across
the cur