Chapter 20 - Page 2

prize, it is certain that Ludlow was perfectly
aware of the hazards that sometimes accompany the first blasts of a
north-west wind on his native coast, and that he never forgot to be
prepared for the danger.

When the wind from the land struck the Coquette, the streak of light,
which announced the appearance of the sun, had been visible several
minutes. As the broad sheets of vapor, that had veiled the heavens during
the prevalence of the south-easterly breeze, were rolled up into dense
masses of clouds, like some immense curtain that is withdrawn from before
its scene, the water, no less than the sky, became instantly visible, in
every quarter. It is scarcely necessary to say, how eagerly the gaze of
our young seaman ran over the horizon, in order to observe the objects
which might come within its range. At first disappointment was plainly
painted in his countenance, and then succeeded the animated eye and
flushed cheek of success.

"I had thought her gone!" he said to his immediate subordinate in
authority. "But here she is, to leeward, just within the edge of that
driving mist, and as dead under our lee as a kind fortune could place her.
Keep the ship away, Sir, and cover her with canvas, from her trucks down.
Call the people from their hammocks, and show yon insolent what Her
Majesty's sloop can do, at need!"

This command was the commencement of a general and hasty movement, in
which every seaman in the ship exerted his powers to the utmost. All hands
were no sooner called, than the depths of the vessel gave up their
tenants, who, joining their force to that of the watch on deck, quickly
covered the spars of the Coquette with a snow-white cloud. Not content to
catch the breeze on such surfaces as the ordinary yards could distend,
long booms were thrust out over the water, and sail was set beyond sail,
until the bending masts would bear no more. The low hull, which supported
this towering and complicated mass of ropes, spars, and sails, yielded to
the powerful impulse, and the fabric, which, in addition to its crowd of
human beings, sustained so heavy a load of artillery, with all its burthen
of stores and ammunition, began to divide the waves, with the steady and
imposing force of a vast momentum. The seas curled and broke against her
sides, like water washing the rocks, the steady ship feeling, as yet, no
impression from their feeble efforts. As the wind increased, however, and
the vessel went further from the land, the surface of the ocean gradually
grew more agitated, until the highlands, which lay over the villa of the
Lust in Rust, finally sunk into the sea; when the top-gallant-royals of
the ship were seen describing wide segments of circles against the
heavens, and