"The captain and his wife were sitting aft and leaning against the taffrail with their hands clasped in each other's, for they were as fond now as when they were bride and bridegroom; the work of the day was over, and the crew were lying listlessly about the decks, not even amusing themselves with talking as usual. I do not believe a person on board had uttered a word for a quarter of an hour. I never felt so complete a silence; when on a sudden it was broken by a loud, piercing, derisive cackle, sounding close under our quarter. Every one knew the voice, and as we sprang up and looked over the bulwarks, we saw, as we expected, the old witch, gliding along the smooth sea, and taking a course directly ahead of us, while she howled and jeered, and pointed with her staff just as she had done before. "The captain saw her too. `Damn her!' he exclaimed, fiercely; `what does she want here?' "The words were scarcely out of his mouth, when an answer was given back which fully accounted for her presence. Right astern there appeared, where a moment before the sky had been of beautiful blue, a cloud black as ink, spreading across the whole eastern horizon. We all saw what was coming--the men instinctively sprang to the brails. "`Clew up, haul down, let fly everything!' shouted the captain. "It was too late: before a tack could be let go, or a brail hauled on, the fierce hurricane struck us. In a moment, ere we could look round, the stout ship heeled over, and trembled in every timber. Crash upon crash was heard, mingled with the shrieks of the seamen, and she was left without a mast standing, a mere hull upon the water. Derick was the most undaunted, though he must have felt on whose account all these disasters were happening. He sprang up with an axe in his hand, and summoning the crew, set to work to cut away the shrouds to clear the shattered spars from the ship. It was done, and the ship drove furiously on before the howling blast. "`We shall ride it out and disappoint the accursed old hag; so never mind, my boys!' he shouted, as he worked away. "`Land right ahead,' sang out a man forward. "`Land on the starboard bow,' cried another. "`Land on the larboard bow,' exclaimed a third. "`Then we are lost!' shrieked out many voices, in an agony of despair. "Onward we drove before the hurricane. `Breakers on the starboard and larboard bows,' cried the first mate, who had rushed forward to look out for any passage among the reefs through which to steer the ship, while I, with the third mate and another hand, went to the helm.