Isabel gathered way,
and forged ahead. "Be quick, but be careful of yourself."

With the assistance of Quin, Cyd got the foresail in, though it was not
without a deal of hard tugging, for the wind now blew a fierce gale. As
soon as sail was thus reduced, the sheets of the jib and mainsail were
secured, and the schooner lay down to her work, dashing through the
water at a furious rate.

"We are all right now, Lily," said Dan. "Go into your cabin again, or
you will be blown away."

"Were any of you hurt in the fight?" asked she, as loud as she could
scream, for the wind howled fearfully through the rigging of the
schooner.

"No, we are all well and hearty. Go to the cabin, Lily."

She returned to her place of security, and seemed to be satisfied that
the hour of peril had passed, for the thunder and the lightning, the
dashing waves and the roaring wind, had no terrors compared with those
produced by the presence of the slave-hunters.

The Isabel labored fearfully in the heavy squall, and it was only by the
exercise of all his skill that Dan could keep her right side up. He was
obliged, as the gusts of wind struck her, to ease off the sheets, and to
luff her up. By the glare of the blinding lightning he obtained the
position of the boat in the lake, or he might have run her on shore,
and, with the beautiful craft, wrecked all the hopes of his party.

"Here, Cyd and Quin, stand by to reef this mainsail! We can't stand this
long," said Dan, as he threw the Isabel up into the wind.

"Possifus!" yelled Cyd, above the howling of the tempest. "We all go to
de bottom, for sartin."

"No, we won't; stand by, and work lively. Let go the peak halyards,"
replied he, as he cast off the throat halyards, on the other side. "Haul
down the sail as fast as you can, Quin."

With the jib still drawing full, the Isabel continued steadily on her
course, while Dan and Cyd put a double reef in the mainsail, Quin
standing at the helm in the mean time, and acting under the direction of
the skipper.

"Now, up with it," added Dan, when the reef-points were all taken up.

The mainsail was hoisted, and again the Isabel dashed madly on her
course, for she had now all the sail she could carry in that fierce
blow. Dan stood at the helm, with his eyes measuring the distances, as
the vivid lightning revealed the bearings of the shores. Cyd was ordered
to the forecastle to keep a sharp lookout ahead, while Quin was directed
to bale out the boa