One of these gusts had been so violent as to
bury in the sea the lee--guns in the waist, although the brig had nothing
set but her close--reefed main--topsail, and reefed foresail. It was now
spending, its fury, and she was beginning to roll heavily, when, with a
suddenness almost incredible to one unacquainted with these latitudes, the
veil of mist that had hung to windward the whole day was rent and drawn
aside, and the red and level rays of the setting sun flashed at once,
through a long arch of glowing clouds, on theblack hull and tall spars of
his Britannic Majesty's sloop, Torch. And, true enough, we were not the
only spectators of this gloomy splendour; for, right in the wake of the
moonlike sun, now half sunk in the sea, at the distance of a mile or more,
lay a long warlike--looking craft, apparently a frigate or heavy corvette,
rolling heavily and silently in the trough of the sea, with her masts,
yards, and the scanty sail she had set, in strong relief against the
glorious horizon.
Jenkins now hailed from the foreyard--"The strange sail isbearing up, sir."
As he spoke, a flash was seen, followed, after what seemed a long interval,
by the deadened report of the gun, as if it had been an echo, and the
sharp, half--ringing half--hissing sound of the shot. It fell short, but
close to us, and was evidently thrown from a heavy cannon, from the length
of the range.
Mr Splinter, the first lieutenant, jumped from the gun he stood on.
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