y
dark, and though the moon, which was full, had, as it happened, broken
out through the clouds a short time before, when they were getting into
the boats, she had now become obscured again, and every thing seemed
enveloped in deep gloom. Still Rollo could see at a short distance
before him the other boats slowly making their way over the wild and
stormy water. He could also see the ends of the piers dimly defined in
the misty air, and the tall lighthouse beyond, with a bright light
burning in the lantern at the top of it.

"We shall only be a few minutes, now," said one of the gentlemen. "It is
not far to the piers."

The boat went on, pitching and tossing over the waves, with her head
towards the piers. The pilot who steered the boat called out continually
to the oarsmen, and the oarsmen shouted back to him; but nobody could
understand such sailor language as they used. At length, on looking
forward again, Rollo saw that the boats before him, instead of going on
in a line towards the land, were slowly scattering in all directions,
and that their own boat, instead of heading towards the pier as at
first, gradually turned round, and seemed to be going along in a
direction parallel to the coast, as the steamer had done.

"What!" exclaimed Mr. Albert, on observing this, "we are not going
towards the piers. Where can we be going?"

The other gentleman shook his head, and said he did not know.

The ladies remained quietly in their places. There was evidently nothing
for them to do, and so they concluded, very sensibly, to do nothing.

The boat slowly turned her head round, all the time pitching and tossing
violently on the billows, until finally she was directed almost towards
the steamer again.

"What can be the matter?" asked one of the gentlemen, addressing the
other. "We are not heading towards the shore." Then turning towards the
pilot, he said to him,--

"What is the matter? Why cannot we go in?"

The pilot, who spoke English very imperfectly, answered, "It is a bar.
The water is not enough."

"There is a bar," said the gentleman, "outside the entrance to the
harbor, and the water is not deep enough even for these boats to go
over. We can see it."

Rollo and the others looked in the direction where the gentleman
pointed, and he could see a long, white line formed by the breakers on
the bar, extending each way as far as the eye could reach along the
shore. Beyond were to be dimly seen the heads of the pie