Everything was conducted in the most
exact order, and with a coolness and skill that bade defiance to the
turbulence of the angry elements. The marines were safely transported
from the ship to the schooner, under the favoring shelter of the former,
though the boat appeared, at times, to be seeking the cavities of the
ocean, and again to be riding in the clouds, as she passed from one
vessel to the other.
At length it was announced that the cutter was ready to receive the
officers of the party. The pilot walked aside and held private
discourse, for a few moments, with the commander, who listened to his
sentences with marked and singular attention. When their conference was
ended, the veteran bared his gray head to the blasts, and offered his
hand to the other, with a seaman's frankness, mingled with the deference
of an inferior. The compliment was courteously returned by the stranger,
who turned quickly on his heel, and directed the attention of those who
awaited his movements, by a significant gesture, to the gangway.
"Come, gentlemen, let us go," said Griffith, starting from a reverie,
and bowing his hasty compliments to his brethren in arms.
When it appeared that his superiors were ready to enter the boat, the
boy, who, by nautical courtesy, was styled Mr. Merry, and who had been
ordered to be in readiness, sprang over the side of the frigate, and
glided into the cutter, with the activity of a squirrel. But the captain
of marines paused, and cast a meaning glance at the pilot, whose place
it was to precede him.
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