r puffs, now
driving the small craft with great rapidity, and now urging her gently
on. At an instant, when she was about to tack, having hardly head-way
sufficient to prevent missing stays, a sudden and violent puff, from a
gorge in the hills, struck the sail. Had it come at any other moment,
the catastrophe that followed could not have happened; but the boat
lying almost motionless, received all the force of the wind, and
instantly upset. Mr. Armstrong, unable to swim, and encumbered by his
clothes, sank, but was caught by the strong arm of Sill, and pulled
upon the keel. In a state of great discomfort, though of safety, there
both remained for some time, waiting for assistance. None arriving,
Sill, at last, became impatient, and as he was an excellent swimmer,
proposed to throw off the heavier part of his clothing, and swim to
land to hasten succor. As Mr. Armstrong made no objection, and the
danger appeared less than what was likely to proceed from a long
continuance on the boat, exposed in their wet clothes to the wind, the
shore being but a few rods distant, Sill, after divesting himself of a
part of his clothes, plunged into the water, and with vigorous strokes
swam towards the land. He had proceeded but a short way when, either
in consequence of becoming benumbed by the coldness of the water after
being chilled by exposure to the wind, or from being seized by cramp,
or from what other cause, the unfortunate man suddenly turning
his face towards Armstrong, and uttering a cry of alarm, sank and
disappeared from sight. Once more only was anything seen of him, when
brought near the surface, perhaps, by an eddy in the stream, a hand
emerged, and for an instant the fingers quivered in the air.

With a sort of desperate horror Armstrong gazed upon the appalling
spectacle. The expression of anguish on the face of the drowning
fisherman, as his distended eyes met his own, froze his blood, and
left a memory behind to last to his dying day. Fascinated, his
eyes dwelt on the spot where the fisherman sunk, and for a moment a
terrible temptation was whispered into his ear quietly, to drop into
the river, and accompany the spirit of the drowned man. But it lasted
only a moment, and the instinct of life resumed its power.

It was not long ere his condition was discovered from the shore, when
chilled and shivering he was taken off by a boat that put out to
his rescue. On arriving at his home, Faith, excessively alarmed,
immedi