A cry from Nicklaus Wagner announced that the spirit of avarice was still active as ever in his bosom.  Even Baptiste, who had lost all his dogmatism and his disposition to command, under the imposing omens which had now made themselves apparent even to him, loudly joined in the protest against this waste of property.  It is rare that any sudden and extreme proposal, like this of Maso’s, meets with a quick echo in the judgments of those to whom the necessity is unexpectedly presented.  The danger did not seem sufficiently imminent to have recourse to an expedient so decided; and, though startled and aroused, the untamed spirits of those who crowded the, menaced pile were rather in a state of uneasiness, than of that fierce excitement to which they were so capable of being wrought, and which was in some degree necessary to induce even them, thriftless and destitute as they were, to be the agents of effecting so great a destruction of properly.  The project of the cool and calculating Maso would therefore have failed entirely, but for another wheeling of those airy squadrons, and a second wave which lifted the groaning bark until the loosened yards swung creaking above their heads.  The canvass flapped, too, in the darkness, like some huge bird of prey fluttering its feathers previously to taking wing.

“Holy and just Ruler of the land and the sea!” exclaimed the Augustine, “remember thy repentant children, and have us, at this awful moment, in thy omnipotent protection!”

“The winds are come down, and even the dumb lake sends us the signal to be ready!” shouted Maso.  “Overboard with the freight, if ye would live!”

A sudden heavy plunge into the water, proved that the mariner was in earnest.  Notwithstanding the imposing and awful signs with which they were surrounded, every individual of the nameless herd bethought him of the puck that contained his own scanty worldly effects, and there was a general and quick movement, with a view to secure them.  As each man succeeded in effecting his own object, he was led away by that community of feeling which rules a multitude.  The common rush was believed to be with a view to succor Maso, though each man secretly knew the falsity of the impression as respected his own particular case; and box after box began to tumble into the water, as new and eager recruits lent themselves to the task.  The impulse was quickly imparted from one to another, until even young Sigismund was active in the work.  On these slight accidents do the most important results depend, when the hot impulses that govern the mass obtain the ascendant.