a huge black velvet pall,
suddenly dropped down and completely covered both vessels; no firing was
heard for a time, even the yell of the gust had sunk; nothing was heard
but the billow, as it groaned along the hollow shore. The same thought
occurred to us both at once. "Those brave boys are all in their coffin
together," slowly murmured my companion. There was neither shout nor
even word among the crowd; while every eye and ear was strained, and the
men began to run along the water's edge to find a fragment of the
wrecks, or assist some struggler for life in the surge. But the cloud,
which absolutely lay upon the water, suddenly burst open, with a roar of
thunder, as if split from top to bottom by the bolt, and both were seen.
A sheet of lightning, which, instead of the momentary flash, hung
quivering from the zenith, showed both vessels with a lurid distinctness
infinitely clearer than day. Every remaining shroud and rope, every
wound of mast or yard, every shot-hole, nay, every rib and streak of the
hulls, was as distinctly visible as if they had been illuminated from
within. But their decks, as the heave of the surge threw them towards
us, showed a fearful spectacle. The dying and the dead, flung along the
gangways, the wounded clinging to the gun carriages or masts, a few
still loading the guns, which neither had now hands enough to
manoeuvre; yet both ships still flying on, shattered and torn, and
looking, in the wild light, like two gigantic skeletons.

The lugger now fired a rocket, and sent up a striped flag, the signal of
distress. A cry for "The boats!" was echoed along the shore, and eight
or ten were speedily started from their hiding places and dragged down
the shingle. Stout hearts and strong hands were in them without loss of
time, and they dashed into the storm. But their efforts were wholly
useless. No strength of oars could stand against such a gale. Some were
swamped at once, the men hardly escaping with their lives. The rest were
tossed like dust upon the wind, and dashed high on shore. All was
hopeless. Another rocket went up, and by its ghastly blaze I caught a
glimpse of the captain. He had been either forced from his hold on the
rocks by the wind, or fallen through exhaustion. His bronzed face was
was now as pale as the sand on which he lay; he was the very image of
despair. Thinking that he had fainted, and fearing that, in this
helpless state, he might be swept away by the next surge--for the