Echo asks, Where--where? We will tell the reader. That
flag which had waved over him so long and in so many of his
wayfarings--that flag which had so long boasted its rule upon the
wave, and had protected him among the savage and the civilized,
found a spot upon this wonderful globe where it ceased to do so,
unless he could change his skin.
CHAPTER III.
THE SECOND STORM.
ON the fourth night succeeding the perilous position of the Janson
off Cape Antoine, the brig was making about seven knots, current of
the gulf included. The sun had set beneath heavy radiant clouds,
which rolled up like masses of inflamed matter, reflecting in a
thousand mellow shades, and again spreading their gorgeous shadows
upon the rippled surface of the ocean, making the picture serene and
grand.
As darkness quickly followed, these beautiful transparencies of a
West-India horizon gradually changed into murky-looking monitors,
spreading gloom in the sombre perspective. The moon was in its
second quarter, and was rising on the earth. The mist gathered
thicker and thicker as she ascended, until at length she became
totally obscured. The Captain sat upon the companion-way, anxiously
watching the sudden change that was going on overhead; and, without
speaking to any one, rose, took a glance at the compass, and then
went forward to the lookout, charging him to keep a sharp watch, as
they were not only in a dangerous channel, but in the track of
vessels bound into and out of the gulf.
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