132 Star anfr Mcathei Gossip 



she was trying to ascertain her position, and indeed 

 she began to beat northward while the watchers on 

 the Heugh Lighthouse kept her in their eye. It was 

 afterwards learned that she was bound for the Tyne, 

 in ballast, from Caen. The French skipper in trying 

 to make the Tyne had a tremendous task before him 

 in such a heavy in-shore gale. The sea which he 

 shipped over his weather bow as he brought the barque 

 round was a rude reminder of the difficulties that lay 

 ahead of him. Only the supremest confidence in his 

 vessel and in his own seamanship could have led him 

 to essay the attempt at all, as even the least nautical 

 of readers will perceive for himself by a glance at the 

 conformation of the coast. But who now blames him 

 for the initial error ? Who remembers aught save the 

 superb sailorly skill which he showed throughout that 

 memorable Sunday ! 



The news that the Fran$ais was in the offing spread 

 through the port like wildfire, and soon the Moor 

 cliff hummed with people. Thenceforward, they 

 followed and criticised every manoeuvre of the vessel, 

 undeterred by either the biting cold or the fiercest of 

 the rain and sleet squalls, which at times completely 

 blotted out the ship and the sea and the hills south of 

 Hartlepool Bay. 



The Fran^ais succeeded in beating as far north as 

 the sinister Blackball Rocks, a few miles up the coast, 

 and then she put about to the southward again. This 

 manoeuvre was clearly observed from the Moor. Its 

 significance made all hearts beat faster, for it told us 

 in unmistakable language that the Fran$ais was 

 embayed. The struggle for supremacy between the 

 ship and the storm had begun. 



