n, prayed long and
fervently, and never had he an auditory, more disposed to join him with
heart and soul. A long life may be the soldier's destiny, a bright
career that of the Portuguese noble, a happy lot fall to the share of
the dark-eyed maiden whose face is now buried in her hands, as she
follows the missionary's words, but never can any of the three actors in
the scene forget that moment, when with the muzzle of the pistol buried
in the powder keg, the forefinger bent on the trigger of the cocked
weapon, one second would have hurled into eternity not only themselves
but the entire crew.

On deck the scene was a wild one. The wind had gradually freshened, and
the sea in consequence risen, the ocean, far as the eye could reach,
being one sheet of green, crested with white foam, the brig rolling
through the waves under her fore-topsail only, at a great rate. Two
serious holes in the hull, caused by the entrance of the eighteen-pound
shot, had been plugged in a makeshift manner, it is true, but still they
had been boarded over.

Notwithstanding all this the party in the cabin was a merry one. So
hopeless, so utterly desperate had been their situation that morning,
that all the danger of a lee shore, all the discomforts of a small
vessel during a heavy gale at sea, were forgotten. The old noble, too,
had accepted the position which had been made for him. After late
events, more particularly the half-hour passed in the brig's hold, it
was impossible to think of Captain Hughes as anything but his daughter's
affianced husband, and as such he had been frankly and fairly accepted.
The marriage was to take place on their arrival in Portugal, and the
whole party to proceed to Europe together.

The captain sat poring over an Admiralty chart laid before him on the
table. The old noble was dozing in one corner, the missionary communing
with his own thoughts and Isabel and her lover talking in low tones.
The roar of the wind was heard even in the cabin, the creaking of the
ropes as the gale tore through them, and now and then a wave larger than
common would break over the brig, deluging her decks.

"Why don't you run for Delagoa Bay, captain?" said Hughes, as the seaman
rose, placing his hand on the table to steady himself.

"We are far to the southward of Delagoa Bay," replied he; "the only port
available is Port Natal."

"Then run for that," rejoined Hughes.

"It's a nasty coast, and there is a bar there of which