TED--RETURN
UNSUCCESSFUL--THE MIDSHIPMEN MOURNED AS LOST--THE FRIGATE AND CORVETTE
SAIL FOR JAMAICA--A BOY OVERBOARD--A HURRICANE AT SEA--THE CORVETTE
DISMASTED--MAN LOST--DANGEROUS POSITION OF CORVETTE--THE FRIGATE
PREPARED WEATHERS THE HURRICANE--ANXIETY ABOUT THE CORVETTE--THE
FRIGATE'S SEARCH FOR HER.

The next day and the next passed--the drogher did not appear, and the
two captains became as anxious as were the three lieutenants to
ascertain the fate of their midshipmen.

"If you wish to go I will spare you for a few days," said Captain
Hemming to Adair.

Accordingly all three sailed in the _Swordfish_. Having ascertained
that the midshipmen intended visiting Barbuda, they first steered for
that island. There was a good stiff breeze, and as the _Swordfish_ was
a fast craft, she rapidly ran over the thirty miles of water which
intervenes between Antigua and its small dependency. It was not,
however, all plain sailing, as numerous shoals, reefs, and rocks
surround the island mostly below the surface, some only showing their
black pates, while from its slight elevation above the ocean at the
distance of less than four miles it was scarcely visible. A negro
standing on the bowsprit end, and holding on by the stay, piloted the
schooner, giving his directions to the man at the helm in a sharp, loud
voice--

"Lub ou may--all ou can! steady! starboard. Keep her away! steady! lub,
lub, lub, for ou life!" he screamed out, waving his hand to enforce his
orders. The schooner just scraped clear of a rock, round which the
water hissed and bubbled, and the pilot once more subsided into his
ordinary calmness.

"Not a pleasant spot to find under one's lee in a gale of wind on a dark
night," observed Terence. "It proves, however, that the crew of the
drogher must have been sober, or they could not have found their way
clear of it."

The schooner at length came to an anchor, and a messenger was sent off
to the overseer, who kindly came down at once and told them that he had
seen the drogher outside the reefs, and standing to the westward. He
pressed them to remain and partake of such hospitality as he could
offer; but eager to pursue their search they declined his invitation,
and the schooner was quickly again threading her way amid the shoals out
to sea. It was a question whether the drogher had continued her course
due west, or had steered northward to Saint Barts, or southward to Saint
Eustatia, or Saint Kitts.