TTbe Storm's ftttumpb 135 



Never had such brilliant seamanship been witnessed 

 before by any watcher on that storm-swept cliff that 

 day. So close in had the Fran$ais been that it is 

 always said she actually touched the rocks. 



II 



In the town, sparse congregations were at Divine 

 Service. And how feelingly did they sing the suppli- 

 cation : 



O, hear us when we cry to Thee 



For those in peril on the sea ! 



Others of the townspeople zigzagged against the wind 

 to the cliff, shouting excitedly for information of the 

 ship as they went. The more timid of the women, and 

 the less robust, remained indoors, 



Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed 

 In a tumultuous privacy of storm, 



or contented themselves with peering out into the wet, 

 resounding streets, perchance to espy some passing 

 friend freshly come from the scene of the Frenchman's 

 titanic struggle. 



Noon came ; the churches emptied themselves, but 

 still the Fran^ais' skipper fought manfully with the 

 gale. He had weathered the headland by his eyelids, 

 so to speak, and now his manoeuvres had to be con- 

 fined to the seven or eight mile stretch of water 

 between that point and the North Cleveland coast, 

 skirting the south margin of the bay. 



It was an intensely thrilling spectacle, this battle 

 between man and nature, and the spectators, who 

 had now gravitated from the north, or Moor side, of 



