262 AN ADVENTURE AT SEA. 



art determined to run her down, ease thy helm a little, ^nd give 

 them a chance for their lives. " 



" Stand by to lower the boats ; " vociferated Seth, stamping 

 furiously upon the deck. A suppressed groan of horror escaped 

 the crew, as they now more plainly conceived the design of their 

 captain. 



" The boldest held his breath for a time ! " 



The little schooner still lay to, in the trough of a deep sea, her 

 people running backwards and forwards in frightened confusion, 

 while the huge bulk of the Grampus mounted the last high wave 

 that separated the two vessels. 



" Miser icorde ! " exclaimed a hundred voices. 



A wild scream of despair — heard far above the noise of the 

 element, and the dashing of the ship — burst from the poor doomed 

 Frenchmen. 



Down came the Grampus, thundering upon the privateer, and 

 striking her with her plunging bow directly amidships. The 

 frail schooner was cut directly in two by the shock ; and her 

 heavy armament, together with the irresistible force of the severing 

 blow, bore both parts of her hull, with all her ill-fated crew of a 

 hundred souls, beneath the wave. 



" Down with the boats from the quarter — launch the longboat" — 

 shouted Seth. But the command, though it could not have been 

 uttered nor executed sooner with safety, came too late. The aim 

 of Seth had been too fatally sure. The boats reached tlie spot, 

 and narrowly escaped being sucked into the vortex where the 

 schooner had gone down. The French crew were all sent to their 

 long account ; and the next wave left not a trace of the wreck, 

 nor a solilary human being to be saved from a watery death. 



Thy ship and cargo were dearly ransomed, Jethro Coffin : and, 

 Seth, thou didst sacrifice a hecatomb of human beings for thy 

 preservation. 



