r atmosphere and hung like a great pall immediately over the doomed
ship. We were walking together fore and aft upon the quarter-deck at
the time, whistling most earnestly and devoutly for a wind, as indeed
were all hands fore and aft. Suddenly Captain Vernon paused, and,
wetting the back of his hand, held it up to the air.

"The wind is failing us," he remarked, and abruptly dived below to his
cabin.

At the same moment I noticed that the corvette was heading three or four
points to the eastward of her course.

"Hard up with your helm, man," I exclaimed impatiently to the man at the
wheel. "Where are you taking the ship?"

"The wheel _is_ hard over, sir," explained the poor fellow with patient
deference; "but she's lost steerage-way."

Just then the skipper returned to the deck.

"Pipe away the first and second cutters, Mr Hawkesley," he exclaimed
sharply. "Take charge of them yourself with one of the midshipmen to
help you, and pull down to the burning ship. As likely as not you will
find that a similar trick has been played there to the one by which that
unfortunate man Richards and his crew so nearly lost their lives. Let
the crews of the boats take their cutlasses and pistols with them, so as
to be prepared in the event of interference from the brig's crew, and
make all the haste you can. Your first duty is to save the crew; your
next to save the ship if possible. The glass is rising, so there will
be no wind; but I shall do what I can to shorten the distance between us
and the brig yonder. When you have done all that is possible on board
the ship, make a dash for the brig, unless you see the recall signal
flying."

Three minutes later the two cutters were darting swiftly away over the
long glassy undulations of the ground-swell toward the great cloud of
smoke on the horizon which served as a beacon for us; the men pulling a
long steady stroke, which, whilst it sent the boats through the water at
a very fair pace, could be maintained for three or four hours at least.

We were scarcely a mile away from the _Daphne_ when she had the rest of
her boats in the water and ahead of her towing, whilst, dangling from
the yard-arms aloft, could be seen hammocks and bags of shot suspended
there to assist--by the swinging motion imparted to them by the rise and
fall of the vessel over the swell--the ship's progress through the
water. The brig was hull-down to us; but from the steadiness with which
her head wa