the sarah arm was as smart a little brig as ever crossed bideford bar. she lay in the pool that night with her head seaward, dividing the flowing tide as though she were rushing through it, and rising to the gentle swell with a seeming impatience to be gone. and shortly after midnight the word was given to weigh anchor and shake out the sails; and james stauncy once more bade farewell to the tonidge and the taw.

a light haze had gathered over the waters, but the gibbous moon, which still rode high in the heavens, shone brightly. in queenly majesty she looked down on that quiet scene, watching over unconscious slumberers; and though little of the landscape could be seen as the vessel passed graysand, yet, when she had cleared the bar, the land-mist was left behind, and the bay, distinctly traceable, sparkled everywhere with silvery brightness.

the ship's company, besides the skipper and mr. mogford, the mate, consisted of eight seamen and an apprentice, whose name was jim ortop, a cross-grained, vexatious youngster, whose cunning at one time and sulkiness at another procured for him most days what the sailors called 'monkeys' 'lowance.'

the men, having seen all snug, were lounging in the forecastle, where the look-out was stationed; and as the vessel sped along under courses, with a fine breeze, they beguiled the time by giving utterance to sundry and divers reflections.

'we shall have a change of weather soon, i'm thinking,' said harry cole. 'd'ye hear how the sea roars at the rock's nose?'

'ay, ay,' replied jem kelly; 'a ring round the moon and a roar at the snuffler is a sure sign of a slapping sou-wester, and it'll be ready for us, all brewed, before we reach the chops of the channel.'

'do you know where we're bound?' said sam pickard. 'i made sure we were going foreign when mr. phillipson said to the cap'n, as he bade him good-bye, "keep your weather eye open, cap'n."'

'i didn't like the way the gov'nor and the cap'n whispered and laughed as they parted,' answered kelly. 'i overheard the cap'n tell the mate just now that we were going up the straits, and that, according to the ship's papers, the bales we've got on board are bales of broadcloth, which he said were heavily insured.' and, having thus delivered himself, he winked hard for his own private amusement.

'bales of broadcloth!' responded jack purden, with a sarcastic laugh; 'bales of list, more like; and a fine market the old rogue will make of it, i'll warrant you.' and jim ortop saw by the bright moonlight that he too winked in a very knowing and emphatic manner.

'the last time we were up the mediterranean,' jim chimed in, 'the cap'n knocked me overboard; and if it hadn't been for ned birch i should have been drowned. if he serves me so again, i'll run away.'

'where will you run to, you young scapegrace?' said pickard. 'how is it you haven't got that rope stowed away yet? look sharp, or the end of it will make acquaintance with your shoulders.'

and so they talked and joked, and moralized too, by times, until the day began to dawn; and the order was given, as the wind had freshened, to clew up the courses and wash the deck.

they were still within sight of the cornish coast when the sun rose gloomily into the thickening sky, assuming the cold red hue which characterizes a frosty morning, and then the dull greasy look which bespeaks a thaw, or maybe a storm.

before nine o'clock the ship had been so far eased of canvas that she was scudding under topsails. dark banks of clouds began to lower in the horizon. the wind, which had risen to a gusty gale, and veered frequently, swept and howled through the rigging; and so threatening were appearances that when jim ortop went whistling up the shrouds to execute some trifling order, he had to run the gauntlet for it as soon as he reached the deck.

'you whistling rascal!' said cole; 'don't you know you can't be whistling when there's a wind without raising a hurricane? if i hear you at that again, i'll make a figure-head of you.'

but the warning came too late. the wind, which had been chopping about, determinately settled into a stern sou-wester, and began to muster its forces for a deadly assault. gusty and gustier still, it swept the rain-clouds hurriedly along the sky, exciting the billows into a wild tumult.

the captain was obliged to alter his course a point or two, in consequence of this state of things; but he kept the vessel's head as close to the wind as possible, and carried all the sail she would bear.

'we shall have a dirty time of it, mr. mogford,' he said, 'we must batten all down, and keep her facing it as long as we can.'

'there's no telling, sir,' replied the mate, 'how it may go. we haven't got the worst of it yet, for certain.'

nor had they. hour after hour the tempest increased in violence, until it became a perfect hurricane. pausing to take breath, and sobbing and sighing, as if in vexation whilst it lulled, the raging wind recovered itself to blow more frantically, bending the brig to the gunwale, and sending green waves over her, whose hissing crests rose haughtily, and broke in briny showers amid her spars and rigging. right skilfully did stauncy handle her, and gallantly she carried herself, struggling bravely with the wild, writhing billows, which chased each other like giants at their gambols.

the evening began to draw in, and, until the moon arose to cast a pale and sickly light over the wide waste of tumultuous waters, the darkness added to the terror of the storm. the men, who had lashed themselves to different parts of the vessel for safety, began to despair; and stauncy himself perceived that the case was serious. still, however, he carried on, until a gust more wilful than its fellows rent the staysail into strips, which streamed out into the wind or flogged and cracked with restless fury; and a monster wave, bent on destruction, broke over the trembling vessel, sweeping the caboose and part of the bulwarks overboard, and with them the pride and life of the crew, jim kelly.

'he's gone, sir!' shouted the men,—'jim's overboard, sir!' and the order to wear the ship was immediately given. but the seaman was beyond the reach of help, and all that stauncy could do was to look after the safety of the rest.

'we'll run before it, mr. mogford,' he said; 'i don't know what else we can do.' and away flew the brig with bare poles, plunging and rolling in the seething waters.