t he and his galley should be washed overboard together,
had not furnished a very appetising spread; while the wild movements of
the vessel, the harsh and dismal creaking of her timbers, the frequent
heavy washing of water along the decks, and the roar of the gale, all
combining together to create a concert of doleful sounds, rendered the
cabin a distinctly unpleasant place, of sojourn; I therefore made no
long tarrying at the table, merely remaining below long enough to snatch
a hasty meal, and to say a few words of comfort and encouragement to my
sweetheart, and then hurried on deck again, to see how matters were
faring there.

The scene that met my gaze as I emerged from the companion, was
depressing and discouraging in the extreme. The sky looked darker and
more threatening than ever; the wind was freshening rapidly, and
sweeping along in savage gusts that smote the seething wave-crests and
tore them into blinding, stinging showers of salt spray, that so
thickened the atmosphere as to completely veil and hide everything
beyond a distance of half a mile. The sea, mountainous as it had been
all through the night, had grown in steepness and height, and had
acquired a still more formidable and menacing run during the short time
that I had been below; while the fact was unquestionable that the brig
was labouring more heavily, and the sea washing in steadily-increasing
volume athwart that portion of her deck that lay unprotected through the
loss of her bulwarks. It appeared to me that we should do better and
ride easier if we showed a small spread of canvas--just sufficient to
steady the vessel, to cause her to turn up a good bold weather side to
the seas, and to place her under command of her helm; and I accordingly
dodged my way to the fore-scuttle, and sang out for all hands to come on
deck to make sail. They came at length, four of them, moving with that
slow and exasperating deliberation that the merchant seaman assumes when
he considers that he is being put upon; and at length, by dint of sheer
persistence, I induced them to overhaul the sail-locker, with the result
that we found a main staysail, new, and made of good stout canvas,
evidently intended for a storm sail, which, still working with the same
deliberation and show of indifference, they finally consented to bend
and set. The result was at once apparent: the brig began to move
through the water, taking the seas very much easier as she was humoured
at th