"`You hell-born hag, stay and speak, and tell me whence you come and where you are going!' shouted Derick, but the witch did nothing but grin more maliciously, and jeer and laugh the louder. Still we continued the pursuit, but we never got an inch nearer to her, though she was going away with her sail set, right in the wind's eye. The harder we pulled the faster she went, and at last disappeared in a squall of thick rain, which drove down upon us. This was fortunate for us, for so mad had the captain become, that I believe he would have followed her till we all dropped down from fatigue, and he was not the man, in his present mood, the boldest of us dared disobey. We now looked round for the ship. She was nowhere to be seen. "I cannot describe to you the feelings which took possession of our hearts. It was the blankest despair: Derick alone seemed indifferent to our fate, and only felt enraged at not having been able to overtake the witch. I believe we were capable of jumping overboard, or of rushing at each other with our knives and fighting till we had stabbed each other to death, when, as I was standing upon the thwarts to look around, I saw the ship dead to leeward. I pointed her out to the captain and men. "`We'll return on board then,' he answered, coolly, as if nothing had happened. `And mind, let none of you talk about our chase after that accursed old hag--we shall have the people fancying next, I suppose, that the ship is doomed.' "`Ay, ay, sir,' we answered; but though I said nothing about it, I believe the men did not hold their tongues a moment after, they got down into the fore-peak. As the sea went down after this we had little difficulty in getting on board again. When we did so, we found that for some time they had given us up as lost. "Fortunately, poor Mrs Derick did not return to consciousness till just as her husband got on board, so that she was spared the misery of believing him lost. He had her taken below, and sat up watching her most tenderly till she recovered. In two days she was better, and on deck again, but I observed a great change in her. She looked pale and anxious, and all her life and spirits were gone. I fear she began to suspect that there was good reason for the old witch to haunt us. The loss of six of our best hands was very serious, especially as we had no prospect of supplying their places in any port at which we were likely to touch. On, however, we must go, and make the best of it. The wind now came ahead, and we were obliged to make tack and tack, scarcely ever getting a fair slant till we reached the latitude of Cape Horn.