Rutland herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1823-1847, 1844-09-19
THE u

~ rnr AurnoR OF Tnr REFER or

Tor escape. But the skipper, as bfaye a
man as held a commission, resolved TO car.
~ or thoto last The wind was fresh and
q heavy lriga,e was abou, two miles a stern,
gaining on US so rapidly that we saw she
would soon ovcrtake us before n~ightfall even
II we should throw overheard the guns and
saw the ,:mbers. Bu, this was no the wors,
aspect Of our case. A corvette whose sin
glc broadside could sink us was com.
ing up on our weather bow and would soon
be within canon shot
Bn, 81 much had | becn occupied during
the last few minutes and since the wind bad
frcshcncd. in the excitement Of our position,
tha, | had OF noticed the sudden change
iha, was coming over the heavens, until an
exclamation from the lieutenant called my
attention TO it When las, | looked astern,
the sky was clear; now an intensely black
cloud spreading with inconceivably rapid.
ry from a small speck in the horizon,
nearly covered the armament. Then the
figate was distinctly visible with a pyrimid
Of canvass rising on her hull now all we
could SEQ Of her were her naked spars rs-
ing agains, the dusky background as she
rose and fell u~ncasily upon the swell. The
strange sails on the weather bow were lost
in darkness. A s,iled oppressiveness in
the air mournful sounds, as those heard
in a sick mans fevered dream, met the ear,
at inter walls; the wind instead of coming in
n steady gale struck the sail right and left
IN unqui,t pufIs, and in an other instant,
with ominouss suddennes, died away and
then there was a dead calm. Around as
far as the eye could see, the waves were of
n pitchy hue, like the fable waters Of the
dead sea. The corvette was laying just
within cannon shot, pitching heavily upon
he long troubled swell, her sail now thrown
by the puffs faI against the mast. Before a
mother second she too fell dead in the calm.
The men looked al one another in dumb a
'nazement, for as often as they had been in
the tropics they had never seen so sudden a
change in the sky.
allows the barometer ?" eagerly asked
the captain, at once OWNING the cause oftho
calm.
Failing fast" he was answered,
ave shall have a white squall then be-
f,o long," he shouted | in a thrilling silence,
snake fast every ,hing-lash and button
1own-have all ready for a run but
surely the corvette's mad, The continued,
as the distant ship, regardless of the omens
around, opened her battery upon US, her
guns reverbrating awfully mid the super.
natural darkness, and the red flashes shoot
ing from her dark hull, like fire vomited
from some sepculchral barque, and light
ing up the gloom With an uncarthly glare.
oh it was a fearful sigh, TO see men com
batting, when the elements were lowering
around him, and he knew not in another
Ln,r bo ,.o,,lJ eta nd in tho pracppro OT God
What can he mean ~ exclaimed the
captain as the discharges leaped forth again
and again from the corvette's side, Lighting
mp her death-like hull, sails and spars, and
leaving her almost imperceptible in the
gathering gloom, "surely he sees the signs
ofthe sky He is an enemy, but, God pre-.
serve him from his frenzy 7"
"The men are unqiet, sir" reported the
midshipman forward, "they wanted TO re-
turn the corvette's FIRE.
"No firing now, sir" said the captain,
with startling energy" lash down like
Lightning we shall be to late, ! fear, MS Il
is-would we know from what quar.er tc
expec, the squall."
Every thing now on board was hurry
and energy, all was made fast that could
be, and our whole trim altered TO fit us for
the gale. Not a rag was left up. In five
minutes we were rolling on the waters
with bare poles pitching to the horizon.
"There it comes!' suddenly said The
captain in a thrilling voice.
We looked, and lol the clouds on th'
horizon, as if By magic, were lifted up, ant
a long line ofsickly light was poured iorlf
,tn1n sLa ,,.atare- thap arn tnnanInn am
rushing sounds striking earthly upon the
strained nerves in that terrific gloom; anC
anon, the wild roar OF the hurricane wa
heard bowling and shrieking along the sea
as il rushed over the fla,tened waters, AM
striking US we'll aft, bowed us a moment be
fore it, and then sen, US bare as we were
swift as lhunderbolts, before the wind
While the thick spray, swept like snow
fakes from the waves, now covered Us II
us thick, dense mist, hiding every form from
our sight, and now few swiftly past US
as II borne on the wings Of the spirl
OF the storm. We spoke not, w
heard not, VIC scarcely saw, but eaci
man grasping q rope, waited breathlesSl'
Ill the hist phrenzy Of the hurricane SHOULD
be spent
a" AWFUL moment. In vain olu w
strain our eyes around TO catch a sight ofou
late enemy Nothing met our eve but tn
gloomy heavens aboye. and the thick curisi
of mist shrondine Us in lis folds, while froG
our course. we felt We were careerinc on ID
corvette WIN A Nolicity which imaginaiiol
can scarcely conceive. All at once we hear
a bostsNain's whistle shoe, ou, Of The yanor
ahead, and suddenly beheld a single tall spa
of the corvette, towering above the gloon
which IN another instant cracked and wef
over The side, as The mis-, momentarlv subs