The first danger over, I again called for a lantern, which was quickly brought; and its first rays revealed the shocking fact that it was the body of the chief mate that lay at my feet. Stooping hastily, I turned him over on his back to search for the wound that had laid him low; but, to my great surprise, was unable to find one, or to discover the slightest trace of blood. The features were perfectly placid and composed, with just the ghost of a smile upon them, giving him the appearance of having fallen suddenly into a pleasant sleep. I laid my fingers quickly upon his wrist fearing I knew not what, and failed to detect any movement of the pulse. Sir Edgar, meanwhile, had joined me, and now thrust his hand inside the waistcoat, over the region of the heart. He held it there a moment or two, and then started up, horror-stricken. "Good God!" he ejaculated, "the man is _dead_!" It was so. There could be no doubt about it. Roberts's presentiment had actually been a true one; he had indeed been doomed to die that night. But it was no mortal bullet that slew him; God Himself had launched the bolt that had severed the thread of this staunch and faithful sailor's broken life. It was that last terrible flash of lightning that had killed him; and the poor fellow had died so instantaneously that he could scarcely have been conscious of the momentous change; certainly it must have been impossible that he could have experienced the least sensation of pain. I was inexpressibly shocked and grieved at this terribly sudden death of my chief mate; not so much on account of the death itself--for, after hearing the poor fellow's sad story in the earlier part of the night, I could not for an instant doubt that death would be regarded by him as a thrice welcome friend--but it was the awful suddenness and unexpected character of it that appalled me. However, I had no time to dwell upon the matter just then, for, though perfectly safe at the moment, every fathom that the ship travelled carried her more nearly to a position of awful jeopardy. I therefore gave orders that the body should be taken below to Roberts's own state-room, and begged Sir Edgar to go below and see whether he could by any means restore vitality to it; hurriedly explaining the situation to him, and pointing out the impossibility of my leaving the deck until the safety of the ship should be assured. The kind-hearted fellow at once consented, and followed the men below, leaving me alone in the darkness and the turmoil of the storm to reflect on the words he had spoken on the night that witnessed the destruction of the _Northern Queen_: "How completely are we in the hands of God, and how absolutely dependent upon His Mercy!"