The Coming Wave

or half an hour with uninterrupted violence. From the time the tempest struck the Waldo, she had been drifting towards the dangerous rocks; and when the wheel and rudder-head were shatte

he hurricane, towards the dangerous reefs. The rain had been pouring down in torrents

destruction. Perhaps it would have been a pleasure to him in the last days of his life to do some noble deed; but there was only the drudgery of the common sailor to be done. He saw the man from the topsail yard strike heavily upon the deck. He dragged him into the galley, but he seemed to be dead. The steward had tender feelings, and he tried to do something to res

bly startled by the shock. Then the sail they were setting was torn in pieces. The mate who had worked vigorously and cou

boy, the mate, as he dropped the hal

Barth, startled by the words of t

h no little difficulty to the quarter-deck, in order to ascertain the condition of thin

of the Wal

m was the passenger, who was getting upon his feet again, apparently not much injured by the bolt. Not another of the six men who lay on the quarter-deck moved, or exhibited any signs of life. The mate,-in whose mind the situation of each of his unfortunate shipmates was fixed in such a way that he could not have forgotten the scene if

when another flash revealed to him the presence of t

m into the water in this weather. It blo

ook from the box his diary, still carefully envelloped in the oil-cloth. This book was the repository of the few valuables he possessed, but whether it was for the diary, or the treasures it contained, that he was so anxious to save it at that trying moment, we may

ould otherwise have been. His companions looked to the mate, whose skill and courage had inspired their confidence, to point out the means of safety, if there were an

said Wallbridge, in a loud voice, which was necessary in

e bay very well," replied Mr.

on a ledge in a

hin the fife-rail at the foot of the mainmast a couple of sharp

otested Wallbridge, as a flash of lightning

get the whale-boat overboard," answered the mate, as he went down into the waist, where the boat was l

e," said Wallbridge.

added Mr. Carboy. "Here, stew

the heavy bundle he had brought up from the cabin, and seizing the axe,

axes as well as the uneasy motion of the vessel would permit, the brig rose on the sea, and came down with a most tremendous crash. Over went the mainmast, shattered at the heel by the bolt

g to the seaman, and snatched the implement from his ha

waist, and impeded the launching of the whale-boat. In a few moments it was all clear. Harvey Barth, aware of his own weaknes

e, as he stood at the bow of it

ge of the boat. Mr. Carboy waited till a heavy billow swept over the deck of the brig, and

ale-boat was swept away from the

th the efforts of Burns, the seam

nd. She had scarcely left the brig before it broke in two in the middle; the foremast toppled over into the water,

d the mate, as he turned his gaze from the remaining

allbridge. "I know the place very well. Let her g

gorously at his oar to keep the boat before the wind; for he knew that, i

rocks. With one consent, the four men leaped from the boat into the surf. The mate carried the painter on shore with him, and endeavored to swing around the boat, which had come stern foremost to the beach. Burns imprudently moved out into the surf to ass

for us," said Wa

wled Harvey. "We can't sta

senger of the Waldo. "I have twelve hundred dollars in

s he glanced around him to ascertain if there were any means of escape t

I don't like to lose it," said Wallbridge. "Bu

ooped out of the sand and gravel a hole about a

his mind the locality of his "hidden treasure;"

rvey Barth, looking up at the

e had come to the end of the beach, and he halted there in despair. He felt that there was no alternative but to lie down and die in the angry waves, for it was better to be drowned than to be dashed to pieces on the jagged rocks. A bright flash of lightning, followed by a fearful crash of thunder, as though the bolt had struck upon the land near him, i

he savage waves. When he came to a flat rock, only a few feet above the beach, upon which he could step out of the little torrent, he paused to rest and recover his breath. Then he thought of his companions in misery, exposed to the peril of the sweeping billows and the more terrible rocks. He was not

re, but the steward, in spite of his weakness, reached the spot where the passenger had buried his gold. Neither the mate nor Wallbridge was there; and the whale-boat had also disappeared. With the greatest difficulty, Harvey succeeded in regaining the ope

im of the use of his powers. The whale-boat was hauled around, head to the beach, but the waves swept it far up towards the rocks, which threatened its destructi

t him away," said

be the same with us in a short time. I didn't think the tide w

ntinued Mr. Carboy, who still held the painter o

k we can get off in the wh

eath to stay here t

rise to the foot of the rocks.

"The wind lulls a little. It can't be

he whale-boat down the steep declivity into the deep water. Keeping her head to the sea, with the oa

; and with lusty strokes they p

sk the boat in the trough of the sea, even for a moment. This direction brought them, after a desperate pull, to the wreck of the Waldo, only the forward part of which remained. This portion appeared to the mate to be wedged in between a couple of rocks, now hidden by the waves, for it did not ri

furiously against the broken end of the hulk. The hurricane renewed its violence, and as the tide rose, the waves swept over the two men. But the rising sea did worse than this for them. It loosened the cargo, consisting in part of hogsheads of molasses; and they rolled down into the deep water. Relieved of this weight, the tide lifted the wrec

ontinued his weary ascent till he reached the summit of the cliffs, where he saw the boat made fast to the wreck, and the mate and passenger cl

torm, nor the only one from whose crew only a single life was spared. The tempest and the lightning had done their work; and when it was done, the dark clouds rolled away, the lightning glared no more, the winds subsided, and the sea was calm again. Lat