ed and
pitched in the heavy sea, seeming half the time to make no headway at
all, but on the contrary to be beaten back, yet doggedly persisting. At
five o'clock she had reached the point where she must turn and run the
gauntlet in order to enter port, with the gale striking full upon her
side. Every front window in the village now held gazing faces, and along
the piers men were clustered under the lee of the warehouses with ropes
and hooks, waiting to see what they could do. The steamer seemed to
hesitate a moment, and was driven back. Then she turned sharply and
started in toward the piers with all steam on. The watchers at the
Agency held their breath. For a moment or two she advanced rapidly, then
the wind struck her, and she careened until her smoke-stacks seemed
almost to touch the water. The boys cried out; Miss Lois clasped her
hands. But the boat had righted herself again by changing her course,
and was now drifting back to her old station. Again and again she made
the attempt, now coming slowly, now with all the sudden speed she could
muster; but she never advanced far before the lurch came, throwing her
on her side, with one paddle-wheel in the air, and straining every
timber in her frame. After half an hour of this work she drew off, and
began to ply slowly up and down under the partial shelter of the little
island opposite, as if resting. But there was not a place where she
could cast anchor, nor any safety in flight; the gale would outlast the
night, and the village harbor was her best hope. The wind was
increasing, the afternoon sinking into night; every one on the island
and on board also knew that when darkness fell, the danger, already
great, would be trebled. Menacing and near on every side were long low
shore-lines, which looked harmless enough, yet held in their sands the
bones of many a drowned man, the ribs of many a vessel.

"Why doesn't she make another trial?" said Dr. Gaston, feverishly wiping
his eyeglasses. "There is no use in running up and down under that
island any longer."

"The captain is probably making everything ready for a final attempt,"
answered Pere Michaux.

And so it seemed, for, after a few more minutes had passed, the steamer
left her shelter, and proceeded cautiously down to the end of the little
island, keeping as closely in shore as she could, climbing each wave
with her bows, and then pitching down into the depth on the other side,
until it seemed as if her hind-quarte