"It is past!
and those who are called to the last account, have met their fate in such
a scene as none but a seaman may witness; while those who are spared, have
need of all a seaman's skill and resolution for that which remains!
Captain Ludlow, I do not despair; for, see, the lady of the brigantine has
still a smile for her servitors!"
Ludlow, who had followed the steady and daring free-trader to the place
where the spar had fallen, turned and cast a look in the direction that
the other stretched his arm. Within a hundred feet of him, he saw the
image of the sea-green lady, rocking in the agitated water, and turned
towards the raft, with its usual expression of wild and malicious
intelligence. This emblem of their fancied mistress had been borne in
front of the smugglers, when they mounted the poop of the Coquette; and
the steeled staff on which the lantern was perched, had been struck into a
horse-bucket by the standard-bearer of the moment, ere he entered the
melee of the combat. During the conflagration, this object had more than
once met the eye of Ludlow; and now it appeared floating quietly by him,
in a manner almost to shake even his contempt for the ordinary
superstitions of seamen. While he hesitated in what manner he should reply
to his companion's remark, the latter plunged into the sea, and swam
towards the light. He was soon by the side of the raft again bearing aloft
the symbol of his brigantine.
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