ship, and his life, with the lives of all on board,
would be brought to a close; for who could hope to escape with not a
boat remaining uninjured, and scarcely a spar to afford support? One
thought, however, afforded him consolation; the brig, with his beloved
Stella on board, had long ere this got well to the southward of the
latitude the hurricane was likely to reach, and she, at all events,
would escape its fury. Earnestly he prayed that she might be protected
from the many dangers she might have to encounter, and though he knew
she would mourn his loss, that she might find comfort and he restored in
time to happiness.

The rage of the hurricane was unabated--a dreadful darkness settled down
over the deep; the only objects to be seen beyond the deck of the
labouring ship being the black mountainous seas, crested with hissing
foam, which rose up on either beam, threatening every instant to
overwhelm her.

In the meantime the frigate, well prepared as she had been to encounter
the first onslaught of the hurricane, flew before it unharmed. As she
passed the corvette, Captain Hemming, seeing her perilous condition,
hailed, promising to heave-to if possible, and lay by her, but the wild
uproar of the elements drowned his voice. To bring the ship to the wind
under the full force of the hurricane was, indeed, a difficult and
dangerous operation, which only the urgent necessity of the case
rendered allowable. The captain of the _Plantagenet_ was not the man to
desert a consort in distress, and notwithstanding the risk to be run he
determined to make the attempt. Still some time elapsed before the
trysails could be set, and during it the frigate had run considerably to
leeward of the corvette. The ports were closed, the hatches secured,
preventer stays set up; every device, indeed, which good seamanship
could suggest, was adopted to provide for the safety of the ship. The
boats were secured by additional lashings, as was everything that could
be washed away on deck. Relieving tackles were also rove, and four of
the best hands were sent to the helm. The crew were at their stations,
ready to carry out the intended operation. All was ready, but it was
necessary to wait for an opportunity to avoid the fury of the mountain
foam-crested billows, rolling in quick succession across the ocean, one
of which, striking her bows as she came up to the wind, would have
treated the proud frigate with little less ceremony than th