rself. Gradually, however,
she rose a little, staggered and trembled like a living thing, and then
plunged away through the storm, as a piece of paper is whirled before
the wind.

By evening the gale was at its height. The _Black Eagle_ was running
under maintopsail and foretopmast staysail. The sea had risen very
quickly, as it will when wind comes upon a swell. As far as the eye
could see from the summit of a wave there was a vista of dark towering
ridges with their threatening crests of foam. When the barque sank in
the hollow these gleaming summits rose as high as her mainyard, and the
two fugitives, clinging to the weather-shrouds, looked up in terror and
amazement at the masses of water which hung above them. Once or twice
waves actually broke over the vessel, crashing and roaring down the
deck, and washing hither and thither until gradually absorbed between
the planks or drained away through the scupper-holes. On each of these
occasions the poor rotten vessel would lurch and shiver in every plank,
as if with a foreknowledge of her fate.

It was a dreary night for all on board. As long as there was light they
could at least see what danger was to be faced, but now the barque was
plunging and tossing through an inky obscurity. With a wild scooping
motion she was hurled up on the summit of a great wave, and thence she
shot down into the black gulf beyond with such force that when checked
by meeting the next billow her whole fabric jarred from truck to
keelson. There were two seamen at the wheel and two at the relieving
tackles, yet it was all that they could do among the wild commotion to
keep her steady.

No one thought of going below. It was better to see and know the worst
than to be shut up in a coffin where one could not stretch out a hand to
help one's self. Once Captain Hamilton Miggs clawed his way along the
rail to where the Girdlestones were standing.

"Look there!" he roared, pointing to windward.

It was difficult to turn one's face straight to the wild rush of wind
and spray and hail. Shading their eyes, they peered into the storm.
Right in the heart of it, and apparently not more than a couple of
hundred yards from the barque, was a lurid glare of ruddy light, rising
and falling with the sea, but advancing rapidly through it. There was a
bright central glowing spot, with smaller lights glimmering above and
beside it. The effect of the single glare of light against the inky
darkness