. I
am certain that the more a person can contemplate the possibility of
danger, the better able they will be to encounter it when it comes, if
they have employed the meantime in reflection and in considering the
best means to meet it.

We were off the Scotch coast, somewhere between Stonehaven and Montrose,
I fancy, when the gale came down upon us with greater force than ever,
and the old master thought if he could get the try-sail on the vessel,
as we had by this time gained a considerable offing, that he should be
able to heave her to and weather it out till it blew over. As he was
about to shift the sails the wind lulled a little, and once more he
hoped that he should be able to hold on his course. He forgot that all
this time, though he was certainly getting more to the southward, the
vessel was also drifting nearer and nearer inshore. At last the gale,
as if it had rested merely to gain strength, breezed up again with
greater fury than ever. I was below at the time. "We must get the
try-sail on her, my lads," I heard the old man sing out. Securing my
wife to a sofa in the cabin, I sprang on deck to lend a hand, for I knew
that all the strength that could be obtained would be required, and that
every moment of delay added to our danger. Many as were the gales I had
been in, I had never beheld a more terrific-looking scene than that by
which I now found myself surrounded. Vivid flashes of lightning every
now and then revealed the dark wall-like waves which rose up with their
crests of foam on every side around us, and threatened to engulf the
little craft struggling helplessly among them. Still no one stopped a
moment to think of all this--the work to be done was to get the mainsail
off her and to set the try-sail. I thought at the time that we were
much nearer inshore than the old master fancied. The try-sail was
almost set, and we were hauling out the sheet, when I heard the old man
sing out, "Hold on, my lads! hold on! Here comes a sea which will give
her a shake." On it came. I was to leeward. I felt myself torn from
the rope to which I held, and my feet lifted off the deck. The wild
waves surrounded me. There was a tumult in my ears. With horror and
agony I discovered that the sea had carried me overboard. I shrieked
out instinctively for help, though I knew that none could be afforded.
In vain I struggled to regain the vessel.

My real condition presented itself with terrific clearness to