"Aye, young man. I was looking for something which was to come up from the east through yon gate of clouds; but whether it was a weather-worn vessel or an archangel sent on some special mission, was not told me." "And you come hither expecting nothing?" "Expecting every thing, for Jehovah is everywhere," answered the old man, solemnly. The youth was greatly impressed, his eye brightened. "I only wish it were in my power to have expectations grounded on so much faith," he said. "Now I come forth like a storm-bird, because a strife of wind and water fills me with some grand expectation never realized, but which seems always on the verge of fulfilment. You may perchance smile, but it seems to me as if I had been months and years watching for that very craft yonder, as if my own fate were anchored with it in the storm. Nay, more, the guns, as they boomed over these waves, seemed challenging me to meet some new destiny, and grapple with it to the end, as I will--as I will!" The young man stretched his arm towards the shadowy vessel, and his slight, almost boyish form swelled with excitement, while the dark brown eyes, usually bright and playful as a child's, darkened and grew larger with the sudden excitement that had come upon him. The minister grasped his outstretched arm, and fixed a steady gaze on his face. "And you also have been on the watch. Like me, you have come blindfold through the storm, searching into the future for that ghostly ship, where it spreads its shrouds of dull mist, and rocks upon the moaning sea. Has the spirit of prophecy touched your young life also, that you say these things with a shortened breath and white cheek, like one terrified or inspired?" "I know not," said the young man; "but, like you, I have expected that visit long. In storm and darkness as it comes now have I seen it." "How--where?" cried the old man, breathlessly. "In my dreams or reveries, I know not which, it has floated often, shrouded as it is now, impalpable, a phantom of spars and fog." "And you have seen this?" "No, not with my eyes; it comes across my life like a ghost whose presence fills you with awe, but answers to no sense." "Like a ghost which you would fain flee from and cannot. Is it thus the spirit deals with you also?" "Nay, I would not flee, it arouses my courage. Even now my heart leaps toward yon vessel as if some precious thing lay in its hold which no one but myself may dare to claim." "This is strange--marvellously strange," said the minister, forgetting himself in the enthusiasm of the young man. "What is strange?" "That we two should meet here for the first time in our lives, haunted by the same dreams, waiting together for the same revelation. Heaven forbid that this should prove a device of the evil one urging us on to perdition. I trust that you have not come forth without fasting and prayer, my young brother, for of a verity there is great need of both in these latter days."