e saw the prospect of our
prolonged captivity. Proportionably the pirates were elated as they
felt sure of escaping. On we flew; the sails of the corvette grew
darker and darker, till a thin small pyramid alone was seen rising
against the sky in the far horizon. Mr McRitchie, who had joined us on
deck, heaved a deep sigh. To him captivity was even more galling than
to us. Darkness came on, and the corvette was lost to sight.

It was a terrific night. The wind increased, and the sea got up more
than ever--the thunder roared, and the lightning flashed; and as the
schooner went plunging away through the foaming ocean, often I thought
that she was about to sink down and never to rise again. The dark,
stern features of the pirates were lighted up now and again, as they
stood at their posts, by the lightning as it played around us; but,
strange to say, they appear to have far more dreaded the anger of their
fellow-men than they did the fury of the elements. Now and then,
perhaps, conscience whispered in the ears of some one not totally deaf
to its influence, that his last hour was approaching and that he must
soon stand in the presence of an offended God, whose laws he had long
systematically outraged; but, generally speaking, the consciences of
that reckless crew had long since been put to sleep, never to awake till
summoned, when hope should have fled, at the sound of the last trump.
On every side those countenances--bold, fierce, God-defying--broke forth
on me out of the darkness as the bright lightning gleamed across them.
Each individual face of the dreadful picture is indelibly impressed on
my memory. At length the doctor went to his berth, and Jerry and I
followed him to the cabin and crept into ours--wet, hungry, and
sorrowful. We slept--we had been so excited all day that we could not
help that from very weariness; but my dreams, I know, were strangely
troubled.

At last I awoke, and found that it was daylight. I sprang up, calling
Jerry, and we went on deck to learn what had become of the corvette.
She was nowhere to be seen. The wind had gone down very much, but it
was still blowing fresh, and a heavy sea was running. The sky, however,
was blue and clear, and the waters sparkled brightly as the beams of the
rising sun glanced over them. The schooner had escaped all damage in
the gale. Our spirits rose somewhat with the pure fresh air of morning,
and very well pleased were we to devour a good breakfa