king, and the waters hissing and roaring as we
passed over them.

Till that moment, all my attention having been concentrated on our own
craft, I had not thought of our consort. I now looked out for her. She
was not to be found in the direction where I expected to see her. I
cast my eyes round anxiously on every side. The atmosphere was now so
dense with spray torn up from the surface of the ocean that the extent
of our horizon was much limited. Yet I fancied that we must still be
close to our consort. In vain I looked round. I called out to
McAllister and told him my fears. Certain it was that the Espoir was
nowhere to be seen. I felt very sad. I could not help dreading that
the Espoir had been struck as we were, and being less prepared, had
capsized and gone over. I thought what had become of poor Grey, my
constant firm friend, and honest Perigal, and I pictured to myself how
his young wife would mourn his loss, and whether, if I ever got home, I
should have to go and tell her how it had happened. I remembered that
huge monster of a shark, which had been swimming round the vessels, and
I bethought me that he had come for them if not for us. I was not
singular, for when the Espoir was missed by others, as was soon the case
when they began to lose fear for themselves, I heard Bambrick observe to
his companion at the helm, "I thought so; I know'd that brute hadn't
come for nothing; they always knows better nor we or the port-admiral
himself what's in the wind. He was as sartain sure as cheese is cheese
that this here Harry-cane was a coming, long before we'd even a notion
that it was a brewing."

The other seaman shook his head with a grave look, as he answered, "I
wonder how many of them poor fellows he's got down his hungry maw by
this time!"

Such was the style of conversation among our men. What the Frenchmen
were saying I do not know. They very soon recovered their spirits and
courage, and began laughing and chattering, and dancing about the deck
in higher spirits than ever. Perhaps they did not always intend to
move, but the now fast rising seas gave the lively little vessel sudden
and unexpected jerks, which sent them jumping forward or aft, or from
side to side, whenever they happened not to be holding on to anything.
Still I did not feel that we were altogether free from danger. The
hurricane blew fiercer and fiercer, the sea also got up rapidly, and
threw the vessel about in a way which mad