out a boat, with an officer on board, who is to visit all. the shipping round this, that he may ascertain if any of them has lost a man lately. 'Tis a dark business; but they'll get to the bottom of it, I warrant ye.-Why, you look as pale as if you knew more about this matter than you choose to tell."-"No, no, no!" returned Angerstoff; "I never hear of a murder but I think of a friend of mine who-but I won't detain you, for the sea is getting up-We'll have a blowy night, I'm afraid.""So you don't want any fish to-day?" cried the stranger. I'll be off-Good morning, good morning. I suppose you'll have the government boat alongside by and by." now heard the sound of oars, and supposed, from the 'conversation having ceased, that the fishermen had departed. Angerstoff came down to the cabin soon after, and released me without speaking a word. "Then Marietta then approached him, and taking hold of his arm, said, "Do you believe what that man has told you?"-" Yes, by the eternal hell!" cried he vehemently; "" I suspect I shall find the truth of it soon enough.' My God!" exclaimed she, "what is to become of us? How dreadful! We are chained here, and cannot escape."-" Escape what?" interrupted Angerstoff: "girl, you have lost your senses. Why should we fear the officers of justice? Keep a guard over your tongue."."-"Oh," returned Marietta, "I talk without thinking, or understanding my own words; but come upon deck, and let me speak with you there." They now went up the gangway stairs together, and continued in deep conversation for some time. Angerstoff gradually became more agitated as the day advanced. He watched upon deck almost without intermission, and seemed irresolute what to do, sometimes sitting down composedly, and at other times hurrying backwards and forwards with clenched hands and bloodless cheeks. The wind blew pretty fresh from the shore, and there was a heavy swell; and I supposed, from the anxious looks with which he contemplated the sky, that he hoped the threatening aspect of the weather would prevent the government boat from putting out to sea. He kept his glass constantly in his hand, and surveyed the ocean through it in all directions. At length he suddenly dashed the instrument away, and exclaimed, " God help us! they are coming now!" Marietta, on hearing this, ran wildly towards him, and put her hands in his; but he pushed her to one side, and began to pace the deck, apparently in deep thought. After a little time, he started, and cried, "I have it now!-It's the only plan-I'll manage the businessyes, yes-I'll cut the cables, and off we'll go-that's settled!"-He then seized an axe, and first divided the hawser at the bows, and afterwards the one attached to the stern. The vessel immediately began to drift away, and having no sails or helm to steady her, rolled with such violence, that I was dashed from side to side several times. She often swung over so much, that I thought she would not regain the upright position, and Angerstoff all the while unconsciously strengthened this belief, by exclaiming, "She will capsize! shift the ballast, or we must go to the bottom!" In the midst of this, I kept my station upon, deck, intently watching the boat, which was still several miles distant. I waited in fearful expectation, thinking that every new wave against which we were impelled would burst upon our vessel, and overwhelm us, while our pursuers were too far off to afford any assistance. The idea of perishing, when on the point of being saved, was inexpressibly agonizing. As the day advanced, the hopes I had entertained of the boat making up with us gradually diminished. The wind blew violently, and we drifted along at a rapid rate, and the weather grew so hazy that our pursuers soon became quite undistinguishable. Marietta and Angerstoff appeared to be stupefied with terror. They stood motionless, holding firmly by the bulwarks of the vessel; and though the waves frequently broke over the deck, and rushed down the gangway, they did not offer to shut the companion door, which would have remained open had not I closed it. The tempest, gloom, and danger that thickened around us, neither elicited from them any expressions of mutual regard, nor seemed to produce the slightest sympathetic emotion in their bosoms. They gazed sternly at each other, and at me; and every time the vessel rolled clung with convulsive eagerness to whatever lay within their reach. About sunset our attention was attracted by a dreadful roaring, which evidently did not proceed from the waves around us; but the atmosphere being very hazy, we were unable to ascertain the cause of it for a long time. At length we distinguished a range of high cliffs, against which the sea beat with terrible fury. Whenever the surge broke upon them, large jets of foam started up to a great height, and flashed angrily over their black and rugged surfaces, while the wind moaned and whistled with fearful caprice among the projecting points of rock. A dense mist covered the upper part of the cliffs, and prevented us from seeing if there were any houses upon their summits, though this point appeared of little importance, for we drifted towards the shore so fast that immediate death seemed inevitable. We soon felt our vessel bound twice against the sand, and, in a little time after, a heavy sea carried her up the beach, where she remained imbedded and hard aground. During the ebb of the waves there was not more than two feet of water round her bows. I immediately perceived this, and watching a favourable opportunity, swung myself down to the beach, by means of part of the cable that projected through the hawse-hole. I began to run towards the cliffs the moment my feet touched the ground, and Angerstoff attempted to follow me, that he might prevent my escape; but, while in the act of descending from the vessel, the sea flowed in with such violence, that he was obliged to spring on board again to save himself from being overwhelmed by its waters. I hurried on, and began to climb up the rocks, which were very steep and slippery; but I soon grew breathless from fatigue, and found it necessary to stop. It was now almost dark, and when I looked around, I neither saw any thing distinctly, nor could form the least idea how far I had still to ascend before I reached the top of the cliffs. I knew not which way to turn my steps, and remained irresolute, till the barking of a dog faintly struck my ear. I joyfully followed the sound, and, after an hour of perilous exertion, discovered a light at some distance, which I soon found to proceed from the window of a small hut. After I had knocked repeatedly, the door was opened by an old man, with a lamp in his hand. He started back on seeing me, for my dress was wet and disordered, my face and hands had been wounded while scrambling among the rocks, and fatigue and terror had given me a wan and agitated look. I entered the house, the inmates of which were a woman and a boy, and having seated myself near the fire, related to my host all that had occurred on board the floating beacon, and then requested him to accompany me down to the beach, that we might search for Angerstoff and Marietta. "No, no," cried he, "that is impossible. Hear how the storm rages! Worlds would not induce me to have any communication with murderers. It would be impious to attempt it on such a night as this. The Almighty is surely punishing them now! Come here, and look out." I followed him to the door, but the moment he opened it, the wind extinguished the lamp. Total darkness prevailed without, and a chaos of rushing, bursting, and moaning sounds swelled upon the ear with irregular loudness. The blast swept round the hut in violent eddyings, and we felt the chilly spray of the sea driving upon our faces at intervals. I shuddered, and the old man closed the door, and then resumed his seat near the fire. My entertainer made a bed for me upon the floor; but the noise of the tempest, and the anxiety I felt about the fate of Angerstoff and Marietta, kept me awake the greater part of the night. Soon after dawn my host accompanied me down to the beach. We found the wreck of the floating beacon, but were unable to discover any traces of the guilty pair whom I had left on board of it. Blackwood's Magazine. HOPE AND MEMORY*. HOPE, adieu ! Faithless charmer, fly my view: Hope, adieu ! Memory, hail! 'Tis with thee I fain would dwell: Viridis. MEMORY AND HOPE. MEMORY, hence! Form'd for bliss and innocence: Hope, be near! With thy lights my prospect cheer: Hope, be near! Flosculus. * Composed to a favourite German air. |