air; a
fellow midshipman standing by pulled aside the covering flag; the
little body started, moved slowly,--more rapidly; there was a flash of
light in the air, a splash in the water alongside.

The chaplain motioned for another; it was a man this time,--all the
rest were men; four of the seamen lifted him up. Again the few short
sentences, and the sailor was launched upon another voyage of life.
Tears were streaming from eyes unused to weeping, tracing unwonted
courses down the strangely weather-beaten, wrinkled cheeks; men
mourning the loss of shipmate and messmate, friend and fellow. The
last one in the row was a gigantic man; over his bosom was laid a
little blood-stained flag of different blazoning: there was the blue
field as in the heavens, white stars, and red and white stripes that
enfolded him like a caress. The sailors lifted him up and waited a
moment, until the tall, stately, distinguished figure of the colonel,
in his plain civilian dress, stepped out from the group of officers and
stood beside the grating; he put his hand upon the flag of his country,
glad to do this service for a faithful if humble friend. It was soon
over; with a little heavier splash old Bentley fell into the sea he had
so loved, joining that innumerable multitude of those who, having done
their duty, wait for that long-deferred day when the sea shall give up
her dead! The woman hid her face within her hands, the great bell of
the ship tolled solemnly forward, the sun had set, the men were
dismissed, the watch called, and the night fell softly, while the ship
glided on in the darkness.

Another week had elapsed. The Yarmouth had been driven steadily
northward, and by contrary winds prevented from making her course. She
was in a precarious condition too; a further examination had disclosed
that some of her spars, especially the mainmast, had been so severely
and seriously wounded, even more so than at first reported, as scarcely
to permit any sail at all to be set on them, and not fit in anyway to
endure stress of weather. The damages had been made good, however, as
far as possible, the rigging knotted and spliced, the spars fished and
strengthened as well. The ship had been leaking slightly all the time,
from injuries received in the fight, in all probability; but a few
hours at the pumps daily had hitherto kept her free, and though the
carpenter had been most assiduous in a search for the leaks, and had
stopped as many