into which she had been forced by the tempest, and the sails were shaking violently, as if to release themselves from their confinement, while the ship stemmed the billows, when the well-known voice of the sailingmaster was heard shouting from the forecastle'Breakers, breakers, dead ahead!"

This appalling sound seemed yet to be lingering about the ship, when a second voice cried-“ Breakers on our lee-bow!

66

'We are in a bight of the shoals, Mr. Gray," said the commander; "she loses her way; perhaps an anchor might hold her."

"Clear away that best bower!" shouted Griffith through his trumpet.

66

Hold on!" cried the pilot, in a voice that reached the very hearts of all who heard him; "hold on everything!"

The young man turned fiercely to the daring stranger who thus defied the discipline of his vessel, and at once demanded-"Who is it that dares to countermand my orders? Is it not enough that you run the ship into danger, but you must interfere to keep her there? If another word"

Peace, Mr. Griffith!" interrupted the captain, bending from the rigging, his gray locks blowing about in the wind, and adding a look of wildness to the haggard care that he exhibited by the light of his lantern; "yield the trumpet to Mr. Gray; he alone can save us."

Griffith threw his speaking trumpet on the deck, and, as he walked proudly away, muttered, in bitterness of feeling, "Then all is lost indeed ".

There was, however, no time for reply; the ship

had been rapidly running into the wind, and, as the efforts of the crew were paralysed by the contradictory orders they had heard, she gradually lost her way, and in a few seconds all her sails were taken aback.

Before the crew understood their situation, the pilot had applied the trumpet to his mouth, and, in a voice that rose above the tempest, he thundered forth his orders. Each command was given distinctly, and with a precision that showed him to be a master of his profession. The helm was kept fast, the headyards swung up heavily against the wind, and the vessel was soon whirling around on her keel with a backward movement.

Griffith was too much of a seaman not to perceive that the pilot had seized, with a perception almost intuitive, the only method that promised to extricate the vessel from her situation. He was young, impetuous, and proud; but he was also generous. Forgetting his resentment, he rushed forward among the men, and, by his presence and example, added certainty to the experiment. The ship fell off slowly before the gale, and bowed her yards nearly to the water, as she felt the blast pouring its fury on her broadside, while the surly waves beat violently against her stern, as if in 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.

officer.

The part of the deck abaft the last mast. It is the part specially assigned to officers.

From his trance. The mysterious pilot was moody and absentminded.

Stillness of death. Cooper makes | Griffith. Mr. Griffith, the second the incidents described in The Pilot pass during the American The quarter-deck. War of Independence. Congress has sent a frigate and a small schooner, the Ariel, to Britain, to do what injury they can along the coast, and, if possible, to seize some of the leading men of the country. The vessels, on an evening which promises to be followed by a wild night, venture into a very dangerous bay on the north-east coast of England, in order to take off a mysterious pilot.

Captain Munson. The commander of the frigate.

The chains. Strong links or plates

of iron bolted at the lower end

to the ship's sides. The man
who is casting the lead stands
on the channels between two
shrouds.

Try our water. See how deep the
water under us is.
Tack. To put the ship about so
that from having the wind on
one side she has it brought round
on the other by way of her head.
See how she works. The pilot had
only just come on board. The
task of getting the ship beyond
the shoals was bound to be diffi-
cult and dangerous, and it would
be impossible unless the pilot
knew exactly how the ship was
likely to behave,

The desired evolution. The tacking.
The confident assurance. While

Mr. Griffith was bringing the
pilot on board he had spoken to
him about the qualities of the
frigate.

Put a-lee. Put towards the side away from the wind. This would bring the head of the ship towards the wind.

Yards. The long spars at right
angles to the mast used for
spreading the sails. (What made
them swing round?)

Vanes. Weather cocks.
Quarter-master.

An officer who attends to the stowage, helm, signals, etc.

Weather main-chains. The "chains" opposite the mainmast on the weather side.

faster, obey the helm better, and avoid drifting on the rocks. Breakers. What does the presence of breakers show?

Bight. A small bay. The fact that there were breakers, ahead and on the lee, showed that the frigate had got into an angle of the shoals.

Loses her way. Lessens her speed. Might hold her from drifting on the rocks.

Bower.

An anchor carried at the

bow. Paralysed. Made powerless. Taken aback. The wind, instead!

of blowing against the sails so as to make the ship move forward, was now blowing against the front of them. The pilot kept the head of the ship in that position, and she was therefore driven backward out of the immediate danger.

With a perception almost intuitive. He had done the right thing, and done it so quickly that it seemed to be the result of instinct more than of thought.

His resentment against the pilot for countermanding his order about the anchor.

COMPOSITION.-Write, in simpler language, the meaning of

the paragraph, “So far the performance

LESSON 9.

occasion".

AMONG THE SHOALS.

PART II.

A MOMENT of breathless astonishment succeeded the accomplishment of this nice manoeuvre, 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.