destruction,
even before the succor could come. In addition to these obvious hazards,
there were all the chances which were dependent on the fact that the
people of the brigantine had every reason to believe the fate of the party
was already sealed.

Still, fortune seemed propitious; for the breeze, though steady, was
light, the intention of the vessel was evidently to pass somewhere near
them, and the hope that their object was search, so strong and plausible,
as to exhilarate every bosom.

At the expiration of the time named, the brigantine passed the raft to
leeward, and so near as to render the smaller objects in her rigging
distinctly visible.

"The faithful fellows are looking for us!" exclaimed the free-trader, with
strong emotion in his voice. "They are men to scour the coast, ere they
abandon us!"

"They pass us--wave the signal--it may catch their eyes!"

The little flag was unheeded, and, after so long and so intense
expectation, the party on the raft had the pain to see the swift-moving
vessel glide past them, and drawing so far ahead as to leave little hope
of her return. The heart of even the 'Skimmer of the Seas' appeared to
sink within him, at the disappointment.

"For myself, I care not;" said the stout mariner mournfully. "Of what
consequence is it, in what sea, or on what voyage, a seaman goes into his
watery tomb?--but for thee, my hapless and playful Eudora, I could wish
another fate--ha!--she tacks!--the sea-green lady has an instinct for her
children, after all!"

The brigantine was in stays.--In ten or fifteen minutes more, the vessel
was again abeam of the raft, and to windward.

"If she pass us now, our chance is gone, without a shadow of hope;" said
the Skimmer, motioning solemnly for silence. Then, applying his hands to
his mouth, he shouted, as if despair lent a giant's volume to his lungs--

"Ho! The Water-Witch!--ahoy!"

The last word issued from his lips with the clear, audible cry, that the
peculiar sound is intended to produce. It appeared as if the conscious
little bark knew its commander's voice; for its course changed slightly,
as if the fabric were possessed of the consciousness and faculties of
life.

"Ho! The Water-Witch!--ahoy!" shouted the Skimmer, with a still mightier
effort.

"--Hilloa!" came down faintly on the breeze, and the direction of the
brigantine again altered.

"The Water-Witch!--the Water-Witch!--ahoy!" broke out of the lips of the
mariner of the