sweeping the blue vault of heaven. Captain Derick rubbed his hands, and smiled with satisfaction, as he walked the deck and looked up at the well-set sails, and then over the side, to watch the sparkling foam as it quickly flew past and formed a long wake astern. He amused his young wife and himself in teaching her the names of the ropes and sails, and she fully shared his pleasure and satisfaction. I remember them as if it were yesterday; she was sitting on the bench, on the after-part of the deck, with one arm resting on his shoulder, and her face looking up at his, while he was explaining some point she could not at first understand. They certainly were a handsome couple. The sea was smooth, the sky was blue, and the air was pure and warm. That evening was the last we saw of fine weather. It seemed sent us on purpose to show how pleasant the world could be, and to make us wish the more to remain in it. On the morning following the one I have described, a dark mass of clouds was seen gathering in the south-west, rising out of the sea, and every instant growing denser and broader, as recruits from all quarters arrived; then, like some mighty host, which has been waiting the arrival of its various divisions, onward it began its march towards us. As the dark body advanced, its movement became more rapid, and at last, as if urged on by some irresistible impulse, it rushed forward in an impetuous charge, covering the whole sky with its overwhelming masses. The captain had been called on deck the moment the sky had assumed this threatening aspect, and he immediately ordered all the lighter sails to be handed, the courses to be brailed up, and the ship to be kept on the starboard tack, under her topsails. As yet there had been a perfect calm, and the sails flapped idly against the masts, though the ship rolled heavily in the smooth ominous billows, which had been rising for some hours past. Suddenly, the wind burst forth from the dark clouds, accompanied with rain and hail, and struck the ship on her broadside, while the forked lightning played round her on every side, as if eager to make her feel its power. Like a reed bent before the wind, the stout ship yielded to the fierce blast. It howled in triumph over her. In an instant, her gunwale was under water, and the waves washed up her decks and threatened to fill her hold. She was in as bad a position as a ship can be placed in, and it seemed that every moment would he her last. Derick now showed that he was a good seaman, cool and fearless in danger. "`Furl the mizzen-topsail,' he shouted out. `Up with her helm--brail up the main-topsail--furl it--she'll not steer without it.' The mizzen-topsail and main-topsail were furled, the fore-topsail was backed against the mast, the fore-staysail and jib were set, but to no purpose. Still she lay like a log upon the waters with her broadside to the sea." Story 13--CHAPTER TWO.