pendence on some
unseen and potent agency!"

"My dependence is placed in the agency of him who is all-potent, but never
visible. If he forget us, we may indeed despair!"

"This is well, but it is not the fortune I would express. Believe me,
spite of an education which teaches all you have said, and of a reason
that is often too clear for folly, there is a secret reliance on hidden
chances, that has been created by a life of activity and hazard, and
which, if it should do nothing better, does not abandon me to despair. The
omen of the light and the smile of my mistress would cheer me, spite of a
thousand philosophers!"

"You are fortunate in purchasing consolation so cheaply;" returned the
commander of Queen Anne, who felt a latent hope in his companion's
confidence that he would have hesitated to acknowledge. "I see but little
that we can do to aid our chances, except it be to clear away all
unnecessary weight, and to secure the raft as much as possible by
additional lashings."

The 'Skimmer of the Seas' assented to the proposal. Consulting a moment
longer, on the details of their expedients, they rejoined the group near
the top, in order to see them executed. As the seamen on the raft were
reduced to the two people of the brigantine, Ludlow and his companion were
obliged to assist in the performance of the duty.

Much useless rigging, that added to the pressure without aiding the
buoyancy of the raft, was cut away; and all the boom-irons were knocked
off the yards, and suffered to descend to the bottom of the ocean. By
these means a great weight was taken from the raft, which in consequence
floated with so much additional power to sustain those who depended on it
for life. The Skimmer, accompanied by his two silent but obedient seamen,
ventured along the attenuated and submerged spars to the extremity of the
tapering masts, and after toiling, with the dexterity of men accustomed to
deal with the complicated machinery of a ship in the darkest nights, they
succeeded in releasing the two smaller masts with their respective yards,
and in floating them down to the body of the wreck, or the part around the
top. Here the sticks were crossed in a manner to give great additional
strength and footing to the stage.

There was an air of hope, and a feeling of increased security, in this
employment. Even the Alderman and Francois aided in the task, to the
extent of their knowledge and force. But when these alterations were ma