Agnes, or, Beauty and Pleasure — page 120: what you’re looking at

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i RR me 112 ceptibly loose at another; and if the raft went to pieces there was the danger of those who were upon it being crushed by the sub- sequent collision of the planks. Besides, Gus- tavus knew that Elverstone had not the power or energy to cling long with his arms to a single plank, if by the rupture of the raft the cordage which retained him should be broken also. Every time the youth was borne by the raft to the top of a billow, he swept his straining eyes around : but naught could he see except the wreck so lately quitted, the wide expanse of the swelling ocean, and the sombre clouds above. Yes—there were birds now and then winging their flight through the air, dipping their wide-spread wings in the foaming crests of the waves, and ever and anon circling above the raft as if almost prepared to swoop upon those while living, whom they doubtless expected presently to have as their prey when dead. The youth’s heart sank within him: he dared not now think of the cousin whom he loved so tenderly, and of his venerable grandsire, from whom nearly two years back he had parted in England: but still their images kept presenting themselves to his view—and he recollected how earnestly they had reasoned against his resolve of going to sea whea first in the glow of youthful confidence he had vowed that he would eat the bread of his own industry and carve out a career for himself. Presently the catastrophe which young Barring- ton had for some time dreaded. took place, by the sudden snapping of the cords at one extremity of the raft; and a shriek of agony pealed forth from the lips of the old miser: for two of the planks, when parting and then quickly and violently coming together again, had crushed one of his legs between them. At the imminent peril of being swept altogether off the raft, or of expe- riencing a similar injury, the generous-hearted Gustavus lost no time in assisting his aged com- panion: and matters were now every instant getting worse and worse. The tossing of the planks which were disunited at one end, speedily produced a similar severance at the other; and tuen a wild shriek rang over the ocean—for Elver- stone, being hurled from the plank to which he vainly strove to cling, fell back into the boiling billows. No possible assistance could Gustavus render him: he had disappeared from the view; and the youth, clinging to the remnant of the raft, was being borne rapidly away by some cur- rent from the scene of the catastrophe. Again a cry rang in his ears: he looked back—and there for an instant he caught a glimpse of the miser rising above the water as far as his waist, just as if he had been propelled straight upward by some power from below. And Oh! what a hideous ghastly countenance it was of which the youth caught that one last transient glimpse: for the form of the drowning man sank straight down again; and though Gustavus continued to look for some time with an agony of suspense in the same direction, he beheld not the miser again rise from the turbulent waters that were engulfing him. The incident completed the causes for deep de- spondency on the part of Gustavus Barrington. Little as he would have valued the companionship of such a man as Elverstone in the great world AGNES ; OR, BEAUTY AND PLEASURE. where there were other associates to select, —yet there, on the bosom of that wide sea, the companionship of any human creature was to be desired in preference to the awful and stupendous solitude in which the youth now found himself. Hope was utterly aban- doning him. His energies had been so over- taxed during so many hours in the past night, that a reaction was now rapidly setting inm— a prostration alike of mind and body; so that he began to feel as if it were useless to cling any longer to that plank, and as if he might as well glide off it, and put a speedy end to his anguish and his despair. But no !—to do this were suicidal; and he said within Aimself, ‘It is my duty to cling as long as possible to that life which God has given me!”’ The pious reflection cheered him ; and in a few moments this cheerfulness was changed into a sudden joy as he caught a glimpse of something which he fancied was a sail in the distance. It was from the summit of a billow that he thus be- held it: then down into the trough of the sea went the remnant of the raft to which he was clinging :—up the ascent it laboured: the emi- nence of & wave again tossed it amidst its foam and dashing spray; but, O joy! there was indeed a sail in the horizon! The experienced eye of Gustavus Barrington soon convinced him that the vessel to which the sail belonged was proceeding in a direction calcu- lated to afford him every chance of being per- ceived and saved, although he knew that some considerable time must yet elapse before that hope could be realized. Nevertheless, all his ener- gies, mental and physical, were again resuscitated : he clung with tenacity to those planks which floated between himself and utter destruction; and from the depths of his soul the sincerest prayers went up to heaven, beseeching that he might not be,disappointed. In due time he was enabled to discern that it was a square-rigged ship of large size; and a little while afterwards he came to the conviction that it was a man-of-war —for his eye could trace two dotted rows of port- holes. And now, when nearer still, he began waving his kerchief: every time the remnant of the raft bore him to the summit of the billows, he raised his signal as high as his arm could stretch out above his head; and hope grew stronger and stronger in his breast. Once, when floating on the top of one of those mighty rolling waves, the planks turned in such a way that the wreck, which was at a consider- able distance, met his view: but while his eyes were still fixed upon it, it suddenly heeled over and sank in deep water. It seemed as if it were destined that the adventurous youth should be- hold the very last of the ill-fated ship in which he had taken the initiative of his profession, and which, young though he were, had already af- forded him such terrible experiences of the perils and horrors which belong to a nautical career. From the direction where the Catharine Millard had gone down, the youth’s eyes were again turned towards the superb ship in the distance : his judgment was correct—it was a large two- decker, carrying the English fag. And now, O joy again! his signal was answered. The ship’s course was slightly altered; and he knew that it was for his sake. At length he beheld a speck upon the com (Eo) ye | Ghbooks