Agnes, or, Beauty and Pleasure — page 117: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

AGNES; OR, BEAUTY AND PLEASURE, 109 taught and which every successive exigency de- manded. And the waves were now rolling, in landsman’s terms, ‘mountains high’—the wind had acquired the violence of a hurricane—the vessel pitched, and in all its timbers it creaked and groaned like a living thing; while the rattling of the cordage mingled with the other voices which were inseparable from the tempest. His garments saturated with water—his brown locks fluttering in their heavy dampness beneath the cap which the leathern strap had retained upon his head— Gustavus Barrington was second to none in the activity with which he performed his duties. All gloomy presentiment was forgotten now: the sense of danger, rising superior to every mental element of weakness, had inspired him with a thrilling courage—the excitement of the strongest forti- tude, He thought of his cousin and of his grand- sire—but not in a way to render those images a source of weakness: on the centrary, they seemed as incentives to the performance of his duty in a manner which might make them proud of him, if he should survive this awful night and return in due time to England to tell the tale. And as that night advanced, so did the tempest seem to gather fresh power and to acquire from the Demon of the Storm fresh elements of fury. Yet bravely did the good ship roll on under the small amount of canvass that it ow carried; and in its buoyancy it seemed to defy the power of the billows to engulf it, or that of the winds to scatter it as a wreck upon the ocean. It is not our purpose to enter into unnecessary details relative to this scene of storm, which every instant grew more awful amidst the stupendous darkness of the night. The sea continued to break over the ship—at one time carrying away a portion of its bulwarks, and at another staving in the principal boat. After a while it became evident that danger was indeed most imminent ; and the Captain now made all requisite prepara- tions for the worst. The rudder was gone—the ship was leaking—and she was drifting likewise at the mercy of the hurricane, which might at any moment carry her upon a rock or sand-bank. The passengers—who had hitherto for the most part remained below in compliance with the earnest injunctions of the Captain—rushed upon the deck ; aud a wild scene of horror ensued. Mothers were pressing their children to their bosoms: females who had no children—and were in this sense hap- pier than the others—were flying about in every cirection: frenzy was displayed by husbands and fathers on one side—while on the other they sank down in blank helpless despair. But where was the old miser? Amidst the bustle and activity occasioned by the preparations which had been made in case the worst should ensue, Gustavus Barrington had forgotten the wretched _ being who had so earnestly and _piteously entreated to be remembered by him. All of a sudden the youth recollected him; and con- vinced that the crisis was now approaching —feeling likewise that he was an object of reliance on the part of the helpless old man —and generously anxious to do his best to serve a fellow-creature in that awful hour of peril, the youth resolved to seek him. Making his hasty way amidst the empty casks, the hencoops, the planks, and the spars, which had been crowded confusedly on the deck in order to serve the last —— st a vas moments of the expected emergency, Gustavus sought everywhere for the object of his interest. The dread spectacle of lamenting women and children crying in their agonizing terror made his heart bleed: and, oh! he felt as if he could at tke instant offer up his own life as a propitiation to the fury of the Demon of the Storm if by that sacrifice he could purchase the safety of all the rest ! Vain was the rapid search of Gustavus upon the deck for the old miser; and he rushed down below. He tore open the door of Elverstone’s berth ; and there a strange spectacle met his eyes, A lantern, swinging to the ceiling formed by the deck above, showed Gustavus the old miser kneel- ing by the side of his chest, and thence from smaller boxes taking quantities of gold, alike in nuggets and in dust, and with the precious metal filling two or three leathern bags which had pre- viously contained other articles, There was some- thing but too well calculated to shock the mind of Gustavus Barrington in the spectacle which he thus beheld,—that wretched old man’s last care being devoted to his gold at aninstant when death was hovering around, bat-like, upon the huge sable pinions of the storm! “ For heaven’s sake come !—come quick, I say!” exclaimed Gustavus: and his hand clutched Elver- stone’s shoulder. “One minute! only one minute!” shrieked forth the miser, lifting his countenance, on the haggardness of which the sickly light of the lantern fell with the ghastliest effect. “Not a minute, madman that you are!” cried Gustavus: and he made a movement as if to wind his arms about Elverstone’s form and carry him thence by force. “No, no! Keep off!” literally shrieked forth the miser. “I go only with what I possess about me! Good heavens! to be thrown as a beggar upon the world! No! no!” Half wild with agony of terror on account of the storm, and with the dread of being torn away from the treasures that were dearer to him than even life itself, Elverstone completed his prepara- tions with a remarkable celerity. His leathern bags were filled—in another moment they were slung upon a belt which he had got ready for the purpose —and this belt he fastened round his waist. Although but a few instants were wasted in these additional proceedings, yet Gustavus could scarcely restrain his impatience so far as to allow the old man to complete them; and he even threatened to abandon him to his fate if he did not at once follow him to the deck. But still there was something more to do. The miser had taken off his coat in order to secure his treasure the more effectually about his person; and he now proceeded to resume that garment ‘* Come quick, I say !’’ cried Gustavus : ‘‘ or by heaven I will leave you, insensate that you are !”’ ‘** What ! and allow every one to see these bags and suspect what they contain?” querulously cried the old man. ‘‘ No, no !—by heaven I will not doit! See! the coat is half on. There now the other sleeve! And now £ But here he was stopped short by a tremendous shock which the ship sustained,—a shock more powerful than any that it had yet experienced during the three or four hours that the fearfnl Dook S Co