The cliffs, but a short half-league under the lee of the
schooner, were, at all times, nearly hid from the eye by the pyramids of
water, which the furious element, so suddenly restrained in its
violence, cast high into the air, as if seeking to overleap the
boundaries that nature had fixed to its dominion. The whole coast, from
the distant headland at the south to the well-known shoals that
stretched far beyond their course in the opposite direction, displayed a
broad belt of foam, into which it would have been certain destruction
for the proudest ship that ever swam to enter. Still the Ariel floated
on the billows, lightly and in safety, though yielding to the impulses
of the waters, and, at times, appearing to be engulfed in the yawning
chasm which apparently opened beneath her to receive the little fabric.
The low rumor of acknowledged danger had found its way through the
schooner, and the seamen, after fastening their hopeless looks on the
small spot of canvas that they were still able to show to the tempest,
would turn to view the dreary line of coast, that seemed to offer so
gloomy an alternative. Even Dillon, to whom the report of their danger
had found its way, crept from his place of concealment in the cabin, and
moved about the decks unheeded, devouring, with greedy ears, such
opinions as fell from the lips of the sullen mariners.
At this moment of appalling apprehension, the cockswain exhibited the
calmest resignation.
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