The pilot: a tale of the sea. By J. Fenimore Cooper.

rvCite p)La-tiily a(libtlc.'l lit eu ttc:lelt \wa:ts trubbil
hlis hands togetlher, with a sort of ecstasy, tihat
probtably \\ ill not lbe uindcrtstoodl by the greatf inaajority of ur reaa e sttls, white i( lgn Tom tas actually
itn(lnlgirn:I n att lAoxysml of his low spiritless
Iattghte:..s these ecrtain intimations of the safiety
of thte Ar.cil, and of the vigi-lance of her crew>, were
conteye dt to( t their ears; twhen thie tiwhole hull and
taperl spiars of their' floating home b)eearno ltieX..
pectetdly visible, andI tit(. siky, the placidt basin, nit t
the adjacent hills, wer\e ilttlinated by a. ftlastl as
sudden and as vivid as the ketenest ighltninpg.
B'thil Barnst"able tand is cockswainl seetmed irnstimctivcly to strain their' eyes towar(ls the sChloon-:r, witht ar eltort to surpass }tlumalln visiotn; hut
er e the rol'ng revert't)erafi(t ns of th:e report of a
he.avy piece. of'ordnance, fiom thte heigltts, had
eotlenecc(ld, the (lultl whistlintg:ruttsh of tihe sh}ot
swept over their h}eads, lik e the moaningt of a
111hurr'icanett and AwN.as succeed(ed by the l)lasll of t(he
wavters, which was tfollowedI in a breathy t
r attling of thle mass of ironl as it bounded with -violent-t fitry f'romn roct to rock, slhivering andtl tearing
the fraglments that lined the nmar)gin of' thre bay.
A baxd aim with the first gU'ntl generally leaves
your enenr1 (aclen (Qclks," saitt t}e co'kswainr, wvith
hlis deliberate sort of p)hilosophy; "lsmoke tmakes
but dim sat'etac(les; rtesides, the night alvtways
grows dlrtkest, ais you call off the morning w\atctl."''lI hat hboy is a mliraclt, tr his yearts I" rejoil?edt the d(elithtted lieutenant. " See, 1Potl, thft
y)outrkeir has shiftted rhis birtth, in thle dark, and thtel
lntnglishrt ent h]ave fired by thte da, y-r'anget they
mutst have takenll, fb' e lef't himl irt a direct line
between the battery tand yon holmmoct! What
would have' beeome of us, if that heavy fellow