urne sitting down with
his eyes directed seaward. He knew me, took my hand, squeezed it, and
then held it in his. For some moments we remained in this position,
when the waves, which every moment increased in volume, washed up to us,
and obliged us to crawl further up. I then looked around me; the
hurricane continued in its fury, but the atmosphere was not so dark. I
could trace, for some distance, the line of the harbour, from the ridge
of foam upon the shore; and for the first time I thought of O'Brien and
the brig. I put my mouth close to Swinburne's ear, and cried out,
"O'Brien!" Swinburne shook his head, and looked up again at the offing.
I thought whether there was any chance of the brig's escape. She was
certainly six, if not seven miles off, and the hurricane was not direct
on the shore. She might have a drift of ten miles, perhaps; but what
was that against such tremendous power? I prayed for those on board of
the brig, and returned thanks for my own preservation. I was, or soon
should be, a prisoner, no doubt; but what was that? I thought of
Celeste, and felt almost happy.

In about three hours the force of the wind subsided. It still blew a
heavy gale; but the sky cleared up, the stars again twinkled in the
heavens, and we could see to a considerable distance.

"It's breaking now, sir," said Swinburne at last, "satisfied with the
injury it has done--and that's no little. This is worst than '94."

"Now I'd give all my pay and prize-money, if it were only daylight and I
could know the fate of the poor _Rattlesnake_. What do you think,
Swinburne?"

"All depends upon whether they were taken unprepared, sir. Captain
O'Brien is as good a seaman as ever trod a plank; but he never has been
in a hurricane, and may not have known the signs and warnings which God
in His Mercy has vouchsafed unto us. Your flush vessels fill easily--
but we must hope for the best."

Most anxiously did we look out for the day which appeared to us as if it
never would break. At last the dawn appeared, and we stretched our eyes
to every part of the offing as it was lighted up; but we could not see
the brig. The sun rose, and all was bright and clear; but we looked not
around us, our eyes were directed to where we had left the brig. The
sea was still running high but the wind abated fast.

"Thank God!" ejaculated Swinburne, when he had directed his eyes along
the coast; "she is above water, at all events!"--and lookin