reproach at departing from her usual manner of moving.

The voice of the pilot, however, was still heard, steady and calm, and yet so clear and high as to reach every ear; and the obedient seamen whirled the yards at his bidding in despite of the tempest, as if they handled the toys of their childhood.

When the ship had fallen off dead before the wind, her head-sails were shaken, her after-yards trimmed, and her helm shifted before she had time to run upon the danger that had threatened, as well to leeward as to windward. The beautiful fabric, obedient to her government, threw her bows up gracefully toward the wind again, and, as her sails were trimmed, moved out from among the dangerous shoals in which she had been surrounded, as steadily and swiftly as she had approached them.

Notes.

The word Ariel (a'ri el) means a water-spirit; also, a spirit of the air. It is a fit name for the beautiful frigate whose peril is so graphically described in these lessons.

Alee is on the side opposite that from which the wind blows. "By the mark, seven,” means that the depth of the water was seven fathoms or forty-two feet.

Into the eye of the wind or into the wind's eye means in the exact direction from which the wind blows.

A quarter-master is a petty officer who attends to the helm and signals, and works under the direction of the master.

Elocution. - Should parts of this lesson be read rapidly?—If so, state where they are.

Why do we speak more rapidly when excited than in ordinary conversation? What feeling is the cause of the excitement in the present instance?

Language. All name-words (nouns) and pronouns indicating persons possess gender, and are said to be masculine or feminine.

We also attribute the personal characteristic of gender to some objects. It is customary to speak of the sun as masculine and of the moon as feminine.

What gender is given to a ship?

A moment of breathless astonishment succeeded the accomplishment of this nice maneuver, but there was no time for the usual expressions of surprise. The stranger still held the trumpet, and continued to lift his voice amid the howlings of the blast, whenever prudence or skill directed any change in the management of the ship. For an hour longer there was a fearful struggle for their preservation, the channel becoming at every foot more complicated, and the shoals thickening around the mariners on every side.

The lead was cast rapidly, and the quick eye of the pilot seemed to pierce the darkness with a keenness of vision that exceeded human power. It was apparent to all in the vessel that they were under the guidance of one who understood navigation thoroughly, and their exertions kept pace with their reviving confidence.

Again and again the vessel appeared to be rushing blindly on shoals, where the sea was covered with foam, and where destruction would have been as sudden as it was certain, when the clear voice of the stranger was heard warning them of the danger, and inciting them to their duty.

The vessel was implicitly yielded to his government, and during those anxious moments when she was dashing the waters aside, throwing the spray over her enormous yards, every ear would listen eagerly for those sounds that had obtained a command over the crew, which can only be acquired, under such circumstances, by great steadiness and consummate skill.

The ship was recovering from the inaction of changing her course in one of those critical tacks that she had made so often, when the pilot, for the first time, addressed the commander of the frigate, who still continued to superintend the all-important duty of the leadsman.

"Now is the pinch," he said; "and if the ship behaves well, we are safe-but, if otherwise, all we have yet done will be useless."

The veteran seaman whom he addressed left the chains at this portentous notice, and, calling to his first lieutenant, required of the stranger an explanation of his warning.

"See you yon light on the southern headland?" returned the pilot; "you may know it from the star near it by its sinking, at times, in the ocean. Now observe the hummock, a little north of it, looking like a shadow in the horizon-'tis a hill far inland. If we keep that light open from the hill we shall do well-but if not, we surely go to pieces.”

"Let us tack again!" exclaimed the lieutenant. The pilot shook his head as he replied, "There is no more tacking or boxhauling to be done tonight. We have barely room to pass out of the shoals on this course, and if we can weather the

"Devil's Grip,” we clear their outermost point—but if not, as I said before, there is but one alternative."

"If we had beaten out the way we entered,” exclaimed Griffith, "we should have done well.”

"Say, also, if the tide would have let us do so," returned the pilot calmly. "Gentlemen, we must be prompt; we have but a mile to go, and the ship appears to fly. That topsail is not enough to keep her up to the wind; we want both jib and mainsail."

"Tis a perilous thing to loosen canvas in such a tempest!" observed the thoughtful captain.

"It must be done," returned the collected stranger; "we perish without. See! the light already touches the edge of the hummock, the sea casts us leeward!"

"It shall be done," cried Griffith, seizing the trumpet from the hand of the pilot.

The orders of the lieutenant were executed almost as soon as issued, and, every thing being ready, the enormous folds of the mainsail were trusted loose to the blast. There was an instant when the result was doubtful, the tremendous threshing of the heavy sails seeming to bid defiance to all restraint, shaking the ship to her center, but art and strength prevailed, and gradually the canvas was distended, and drawn down to its usual place by the power of a hundred men. The vessel yielded to this immense addition of force, and bowed before it like a reed bending to a breeze. But the success of the measure was announced by a joyful cry from the stranger that seemed to burst from his inmost oul.

"She feels it! She springs her luff! Observe," he said, "the light opens from the hummock already; if she will only bear her canvas, we shall go clear!"

A report like that of a cannon interrupted his exclamation, and something resembling a white cloud was seen drifting before the wind from the head of the ship, till it was driven into the gloom far to leeward.

""Tis the jib blown from the bolt-ropes," said the commander of the frigate. "This is no time to spread light duck-but the mainsail may stand it yet."

"The sail would laugh at a tornado," returned the lieutenant; "but the mast springs like a piece of steel."

"Silence all!" cried the pilot. we shall soon know our fate. you can."

"Now, gentlemen, Let her luff-luff

This warning effectually closed all discourse, and the hardy mariners, knowing that they had already done all in the power of man to insure their safety, stood in breathless anxiety awaiting the result. At a short distance ahead of them, the whole ocean was white with foam, and the waves, instead of rolling on in regular succession, appeared to be tossing about in mad gambols.

A single streak of dark billows, not half a cable's length in width, could be discerned running into the chaos of water; but it was soon lost to the eye amid the confusion of the disturbed element. Along this narrow path the vessel moved more heavily than before, being brought so near to the wind as to keep her sails touching.