Mardi: and A Voyage Thither, Vol. I (of 2)

good angel, and a thousand miles from l

trammeled, and at the same time satisfactorily disposing of him. For being a rather fat fellow, an enormous consumer of "duff," and with good reason supposed to be the son of a farmer, I made no doubt, he would pu

no trace of a moon; and the dark purple haze, sometimes encoun

oes from our feet. He then descended into the forecastle, and I sauntered aft toward the quarter-deck. All was still. Thrice di

. He lay quietly, though; but asleep or awake, no more delay. Risks must

at, which hung from the ship's lee side, the side depressed in the water, an indispensable requisite to an attempt at escape. And though

s straining the craft in lowering. An expedient, however, though at the eleventh hour, was hit upon. Fastening a long rope to the breaker, which was perfectly tight, we cautiously drop

ere stationed, if not already awake. But our dropping overboard the breaker greatly aided us in this respect: it diminished the ship's headway; which owing to the light breeze had not been very great at any time during the night. Had it been so, all ho

dead weight of the breaker astern now dragged the craft horizontally through the air, so that her tackle ropes strained hard. She quivered like a dolphin. Nevertheless, had we not fear

eady,

ea

bounded on the sea's back. One mad sheer and plunge, one terrible strain on the tackles as we sunk in the trough of the waves, tugged upon by the towing b

we heard the confused tramping and shouting of the sailors, as t

art smote me as the human cry of horr

the main-yard! Quick to the boats! How's this? One down

n were shouting as they

y!" impatiently cried the sailors, w

parently just springing to the deck. "One boat's enough. Steward; sho

d desisted from rowing, and hand over hand were now hauling in upon the rope attach

nd save him!" again

l instinctively, "pulling a

ship but a confused tumult; and, ever and anon, the ho

ght into the darkness, and dead to leeward