e lived in it an instant. The wind too blew in awful
gusts, so that we frequently could scarcely stand, and it sent the foam
flying over us in showers, till we were drenched with it to the skin, as
we passed along to the edge of the cliff; on our way to the spot near
which we judged the hapless vessel would strike the rocks. We had
collected as many of our people as we could find, and were supplied with
ropes and spars to enable us to save the lives of any, should they be
washed on shore from the wreck.

"Now, mark me, lady, we believed that we were performing a truly
Christian and virtuous act, and yet it was the cause of all the
subsequent misery! and those I loved far better than myself endured. We
were hastening to preserve from destruction the accursed viper who was
to sting us to death. Thus, Heaven ordained it should be, and its ways
are dark and intricate, beyond my comprehension, for surely it is
against all the rules one can conceive of justice that a virtuous action
should be thus rewarded. Perhaps you will say that His ways are
inscrutable, and, that as we have neither the power, nor have we the
right to attempt to read them, so we should not venture to cavil at His
ordinances, but humbly believe that the ultimate result will be for our
benefit. I believe it is so, lady; or it may be for a punishment; but
it is bitter, very bitter, oftentimes to bear. But I am wandering from
my story. We could watch the progress of the fated vessel by the
occasional flashes of her guns, and the still more vivid ones of the
lightning which darted from the dark clouds, and we could see that she
still had some sail set, with which she was endeavouring to haul off the
shore. On she flew, plunging madly into the foaming waves, when, just
as we reached the beach, she was lifted on the summit of a sea, and
crashed downward on the reef. We fancied that we could hear the
despairing shriek of the hapless mariners above the loud roar of the
waters as the wild waves dashed over them, and their barque parted
beneath their feet. A second flash revealed to us the masts falling by
the board, and every timber and plank upheaving amid the foam--another
came, and not a vestige of the vessel remained. We were about to leave
the spot, from feeling how hopeless was the prospect of saving the lives
of any of those who had the misfortune to be on board, for we believed
that not one could have survived an instant after the vessel had stru