then a horror of great darkness--a darkness that
could be felt. The skipper himself took to the fore rigging, and placed
one of the watch handy to the wheel; finally he called all hands up very
quietly, and the men hung on anyhow. One drift after another passed by
in dim majesty, and the spectacle, with all its desolation, was one
never to be forgotten. After half an hour or so, Blair glanced up and
noticed a dim form sliding down the shrouds; then the skipper rushed
aft, for the helmsman could not see him, and then came a strange dark
cloud of massive texture looming through the delirious dance of the
fog-wreaths. First a flare was tried, then the bell was rung with
trebled vigour.

"Down below, sir, and call all up. He's yawed into us."

Blair saw the shape of a large vessel start out in desperate closeness;
and running through to the saloon, cried quickly, "All up on deck!
Ferrier, Fullerton, Tom, lend a hand with the ladies."

A yell was heard above; the poor sick folk came out in piteously thin
wrappings, moaning as they walked, and all the company got on deck just
in time to see a big barque go barely clear.

The youngest girl fainted, and Marion Dearsley attended to her with a
steady coolness that earned the admiration of her assistant--the doctor.
The serried ranks of the wreaths ceased to pour on, and the worn-out
landsfolk went below.

Right on into the next night the unwearied gale blew; significant lumps
of wreckage drifted past the schooner, and two floating batches of
fish-boxes hinted at mischief. The frightful sea made it well-nigh
impossible for those below to lie down with any comfort; they hardly had
the seaman's knack of saving themselves from muscular strain, and they
simply endured their misery as best they could. The yelling of wind and
the volleying of tortured water made general conversation impossible;
but Tom went from one lady to another and uttered ear-splitting howls
with a view of cheering the poor things up. Indeed, he once described
the predicament as distinctly fahscinating, but this example of poetic
license was too much even for Thomas, and he withdrew his remark in the
most parliamentary manner. Ferrier was more useful; his resolute,
cheerful air, the curt, brisk coolness of his chance remarks, were
exactly what were wanted to reassure women, and he did much to make the
dreary day pass tolerably. His services as waiter-general were admirably
performed, and he really did more by