The fury of the storm being abated, I resolved to follow Stephen down to the shore.  He was not in sight, and I knew not what direction to take.  It was a gloomy night, the transient glimpses of the moon between driving masses of clouds only making the scene more wild and appalling.  I could see the tops of the tall trees bending under the fury of the blast, ere it came to sweep the beach.  The heaving billows were covered with foam, far as the eye could reach, and, rising and tumbling, seemed striving with each other as they rolled on towards the sands.  I had seen storms upon the ocean before, but never had it presented so awful and majestic an appearance.  As the breakers struck upon the shore, and sent a huge mass of water upon the sands, their sullen roar mingled with the howling and rushing of the wind, and filled me with awe.

There were torches upon the beach, and as I drew near, I saw the fishermen run together to one point.  The body had just been washed ashore, and lay stretched upon the sands.  The head was bare, and long locks of white hair streamed down upon the shoulders.  The heavy pea-jacket was off from one arm, as if he had endeavored to extricate himself from it in the water.  The sinewy arms lay powerless and free from tension then, but they told me that, when they first drew him from the surf, both hands were grasping a broken oar with such strength that they were unable to loose his hold, till suddenly the muscles relaxed, and the arms fell upon the ground.  They turned the body, and a little water ran from the mouth.  Then, gently raising it upon their shoulders, they bore it home.

LAUGHTER.

In some individuals the risibles lie so near the surface that you may tickle them with a feather.  In others, they are so deeply imbedded in phlegm, or so protected by the crust of ill-humor, that a strong thrust and a keen weapon are required to reach them.

A laugh is in itself a different thing in different individuals.  Some persons laugh inwardly, unsocially, bitterly.  It is a pure grimace on your part when you join in their merriment, unless you are superior to the fear of ridicule.  On the other hand, there is a laugh of so contagious a nature, that you are irresistibly moved to sympathy while ignorant of the exciting cause, or out of the sphere of its influence.  You will laugh loud and long, and afterwards confess that you had not the least gleam of a funny idea, all the while.

You doubt the power of the sympathetic laugh?  Come with me into the nursery.  Here is a rosy little horror, a year and a half old.  Sit down and take him upon your knees.  Hold his dimpled hands in yours, and look steadily into his roguish eyes.  Repeat a nursery rhyme, no matter what, in a humdrum recitative; he is sober, and very attentive.  Suddenly spring a mine upon him with a “Boo!” His “Hicketty-hick!” follows, and his eyes begin to shine.  Repeat the experiment.