“I like this opening in the north-west,” observed the captain, after his eye had thoroughly scanned the whole of the still dusky and limited view.  “Wind will come out of it.  Give us a cap-full, and we shall try the speed of this boasted Water-Witch!—­Do I not see a sail, on our weather-beam?—­or is it the crest of a wave?”

“The sea is getting irregular, and I have often been thus deceived, since the light appeared.”

“Get more sail on the ship.  Here is wind, in-shore of us; we will be ready for it.  See every thing clear, to show all our canvas.”

The lieutenant received these orders with the customary deference and communicated them to his inferiors again, with the promptitude that distinguishes sea discipline.  The Coquette, at the moment, was lying under her three top-sails, one of which was thrown against its mast, in a manner to hold the vessel as nearly stationary as her drift and the wash of the waves would allow.  So soon, however, as the officer of the watch summoned the people to exertion, the massive yards were swung; several light sails, that served to balance the fabric as well as to urge it ahead, were hoisted or opened; and the ship immediately began to move through the water.  While the men of the watch were thus employed, the flapping of the canvas announced the approach of a new breeze.

The coast of North America is liable to sudden and dangerous transitions, in the currents of the air.  It is a circumstance of no unusual occurrence, for a gale to alter its direction with so little warning, as greatly to jeopard the safety of a ship, or even to overwhelm her.  It has been often said, that the celebrated Ville de Paris was lost through one of these violent changes, her captain having inadvertently hove-to the vessel under too much after-sail, a mistake by which he lost the command of his ship during the pressing emergency that ensued.  Whatever may have been the fact as regards that ill-fated prize, it is certain that Ludlow was perfectly aware of the hazards that sometimes accompany the first blasts of a north-west wind on his native coast, and that he never forgot to be prepared for the danger.

When the wind from the land struck the Coquette, the streak of light, which announced the appearance of the sun, had been visible several minutes.  As the broad sheets of vapor, that had veiled the heavens during the prevalence of the south-easterly breeze, were rolled up into dense masses of clouds, like some immense curtain that is withdrawn from before its scene, the water, no less than the sky, became instantly visible, in every quarter.  It is scarcely necessary to say, how eagerly the gaze of our young seaman ran over the horizon, in order to observe the objects which might come within its range.  At first disappointment was plainly painted in his countenance, and then succeeded the animated eye and flushed cheek of success.

“I had thought her gone!” he said to his immediate subordinate in authority.  “But here she is, to leeward, just within the edge of that driving mist, and as dead under our lee as a kind fortune could place her.  Keep the ship away, Sir, and cover her with canvas, from her trucks down.  Call the people from their hammocks, and show yon insolent what Her Majesty’s sloop can do, at need!”