The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1862-03-04 00:00:00

_A.ZE'

they really entertained. All on board anxiously waited
for the fury of the gale ; for there were none so igno-
rant or inexperienced on that pliant frigate as nut to
know that they as yet only felt the intent efforta of the
winds. Each Moment, however, it increased in power,
though so gradual was the alteration, that the relieved
mariners began to believe dint all their gloomy fore-
bodings were not to be realised, During Obi abort inter-
val of uncertainty, no other sounds were heard than
the whistling of the hreese, as it passed quickly through
the Incas of rigging that belonged to the vessel. and the
dashing of the eprey that began to fly from her bows
like the foam of a cataract.—" It blow* fresh," cried
Griffith, who was first to speak in that moment of
dobbt and anxiety ; "but it le no more than a cap full
of wind, after all. Give ea elbow mom and the right
canvass, Mr. Pilot, and I'll handle the eldp like a
gentleman's yacht in this breeze."--" Will she stay,
think ye, under this mil?" said the low voice of the
stranger.—" She will do all that man in reason can ask
of wood and iron," returned the lieutenant; "but the
reseal don't fioat the wean that will tack under double-
reefed topsails alone against a betty iea, Help her
with the cotirstin pilot, and von% tee her come rotilid
Ilk. a dancing-masr er."—" Let us feel the strength of
the gale find," returned the man who was called Mr.
Gray, moving from the side of Griffith to the weather
gangway of the vessel, where lie stood in silence, look-
ing ahead of the ship with an air of singular coolness
and abstraction.—Ali the lanterns had been extin-
guished on the deck of the frigate when her anehor was
secured, and as the first mist of the gale had passed
Over, it wee aucceederl by a faiht light that *4 a good
dell sided by the flittering fostii of the waters, which
now broke in white curls around the vessel in every
direction. The land could be faintly d:soerned, rising
like a heavy bank of black fog above the margin of
the waters, and was only distinguishable from the
heavens by its deeper gloom and obiLurity. The last
rope was coiled end deposited in its proper place by the
seamen, and for several minutes the stillness of death
pervaded the crowded decks. It was evident to every-
one that their ship was dashing at a prodigious rate
through the waves; and, as she was approaching, with
such velocity, the quarter of the bay where the shoals
and dangers were known to be situated, nothing but
the habits of the most exact iisciplinis could suppress
the uneasiness of the officers and men Within
their own bosoms. At length the voice of
Captain Manson was heard calling to the pilot.—
" Shall I send a hand into the chains, Mr, Gray ; he
said, "and try our water?"—" Tack your ship, sir,
tack your chip; I would see how she works before we
reach the point where ahe meat behave well, or we
perish."—Oriffith gazed aftet him in wonder, while the
pilot slowly paced the quartge-deelc, and then, rousing
from his trance, gave forth the cheering order that
called each man to hie station to perform the desired
evolution. The confident assurances which the young
officer had given to the pilot reenacting the qualities of
his vessel, and Ilia own ability to manage her, wire
fully realised by the result. The helm was no sooner
put • lee, than the bugs ship harelip gallantly against the
wind, and, dashing directly through the waves, threw
the foam high into the air as she looked boldly into the
very eye of the wind, and then, yielding gracefully to
its power, she fell off on the other tack with her head
' pointed from those dangerous shoals that she had so
recently approached with such terrifying velocity. The
heavy yards swung round as if they had been vanes to
indicate the currents of the air, and, in • few moments,
the frigate again moved with stately progress through
the water, leaving the rocks and shoals behind her on
one side of the bay, lint advancing toward those that
offered equal danger on the other. Daring this time
the sea was becoming inortragitated, and the violence of
the wind was gradually increasing. The latter no
longer whistled amid the cordage of the vessel, but it
seemed to howl surlily as it passed the complicated
machinery that the frigate obtruded on it, path. An
endless; succession of white surges rose above the heavy
billows, and the very air was glittering with the light
that was disengaged from the ocean. The ship yielded
each moment more and more before the storm, and in
less than half an hour from the time that she had lifted
her anchor, she was driven along with tremendous fury
by the full power of a gale of wind. Still the hardy
and experienced mariners who directed her movements
held nee to the course that was neeessay to their pre.
serration, and still Griffith gave forth, when directed
by their unknown pilot, those or lees that turned her in
the narrow channel where safety was alone to be found.
—So far the performance of his duty appeared easy to
the stranger, and lie gave the required directions in
those still calm tones that formed so remarkable a con-
Inuit to the responsibility of hi* situation. But when
the land was becoming dim, in distance as wall as dark-
ness, and the agitated sea was only to be discovered as
It swept by them in foam, he broke in upon the
monotonous roaring of the tempest with the sounda of
his voice, seeming to shake off his apathy and roam
himself to the occasion.—" Now ie the time to watch
her closely, Mr. Griffith," he cried; "here we get the
true tide and the real danger. Place the beet quarter-
master of your ship in those chains, and let an officer
stand by loin and see that he gives no the right water."
"I will take that office on niyeelf;" said the captain;
"pass a light into the weather main-ohains."—" Stand
by your braces !" exclaimed the pilot with startling
quickness. "Heave away that lead !"—These prepare-
tdons taught the crew to expect the crisis, and every
officer and man stood in fearful silence, at his assigned
station, awaiting the issue of the trial. Even the
quarter-master at the con give out his orders to the
men at the wheel in deeper and hoarser tones than
usual, as if anxious not to disturb the quiet and order
of the vessel.—While this deep expectation pervaded
the frigate,' the piercing cry of the leadsmen, as lie
called, "By the mark seven l" rose above the tempest,
crossed over the decks, and appeared to pass away to
leeward, borne on the blast I:ke the warnings of some
water spirit —"'Tie well," returned the pilot, calmly;
"try it again."—The short pause was succeeded by
anothef cry, s" And. • half-five r-" She shoals! she
shoals l" exclaimed Griffith; "keep her a good full,"
"17. you meat hold the vessel- in commited, now,"
said the pilot, with those tones that are most appalling
in critical moments, because they seem to denote most
preparatiou and care.—The third call of " By the deep
four !" was followed by a prompt direction from the
stranger to tack.—Griffith seemed to emulate the cool-
ness of the pilot, in issuing the neeessary orders to
execute their manosuvre.—The vessel rose slowly from
the inclined position into which she had been forced by
the tempest, and the sails were shaking violently, as if
to release themselves from their confinement, while the
sin; stemmed the billows, when the well-known voice
of the sail-master was heard shouting from the fore-
cast's—" Breakers, breakers, dead ahead I"—This
appalling sound seemed yet to be lingering about the
ship, when • second voice cried—" Breakers on our lee-
bow l"—" We eve in a bight of .the shoals, Mi. Gray,"
said the commander. "She loses her way; perhaps an
anchor might hold her."—" Clear away the best-
bower I" shouted Griffith, through his trumpet.—
Hold on!" cried the pilot, in a voice that reached
the very hearts of all who heard him ; hold on
every thing."—The young man turned fiercely to the
daring stranger who thug defied the discipline of his
vessel, and at once demanded—" Who is it that dares
to countermand my orders?—is it not enough that you
run the ship into danger, but you must interfere to
keep her there? If another word—" "Peace,
Mr. Griffith," interrupted the captain, bending from
the rigging, his grey locks blowing about in the wind,
and adding a look of wildness to the haggard care that
lie exhibited by the light of his lantern; "yield the
trumpet to Mr. Gray; he alone can save us."—Griffith
threw his speaking trumpet on the deck, and as he
walked proudly away, muttered in bitterness of feeling
—"Then all is loot indeed, and, among the rest, the
foolish hopes with which I visited this oomit."—Frotn
The Pike, by Fennintore Cooper.
(in be continued.)