Chapter 18

It is to be all made of sighs and tears;
It is to be all made of faith and service;
It is to be all made of phantasy;
All made of passion, and all made of wishes;
All adoration, duty, and observance;
All humbleness, all patience, and impatience;
All purity, all trial, all observance.
SHAKESPEARE.

It was near noon when the gale broke; and then its force abated as
suddenly as its violence had arisen. In less than two hours after
the wind fell, the surface of the lake, though still agitated,
was no longer glittering with foam; and in double that time, the
entire sheet presented the ordinary scene of disturbed water, that
was unbroken by the violence of a tempest. Still the waves came
rolling incessantly towards the shore, and the lines of breakers
remained, though the spray had ceased to fly; the combing of
the swells was more moderate, and all that there was of violence
proceeded from the impulsion of wind which had abated.

As it was impossible to make head against the sea that was still
up, with the light opposing air that blew from the eastward,
all thoughts of getting under way that afternoon were abandoned.
Jasper, who had now quietly resumed the command of the _Scud_,
busied himself, however, in heaving-up the anchors, which were
lifted in succession; the kedges that backed them were weighed, and
everything was got in readiness for a prompt departure, as soon as
the state of the weather would allow. In the meantime, they who
had no concern with these duties sought such means of amusement as
their peculiar circumstances allowed.

As is common with those who are unused to the confinement of a
vessel, Mabel cast wistful eyes towards the shore; nor was it long
before she expressed a wish that it were possible to land. The
Pathfinder was near her at the time, and he assured her that nothing
would be easier, as they had a bark canoe on deck, which was the
best possible mode of conveyance to go through a surf. After the
usual doubts and misgivings, the Sergeant was appealed to; his
opinion proved to be favorable, and preparations to carry the whim
into effect were immediately made.

The party which was to land consisted of Sergeant Dunham, his
daughter, and the Pathfinder. Accustomed to the canoe, Mabel took
her seat in the centre with great steadiness, her father was placed
in the bows, while the guide assumed the office of conductor, by
steering in the stern. There was little need of impelling the canoe
by means of the paddle, for the rollers sent it forward at moments
with a violence that set every effort to govern its movements
at defiance. More than once, before the shore was reached, Mabel
repented of her temerity, but Pathfinder encouraged her, and really