A Queer Race: The Story of a Strange People — page 152: what you’re looking at

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

A QUEER RACE. 149 visible the Painted Rocks, against which the waves were beating with a long, hollow roar like that of distant thun- der. ‘The sun was above the horizon, shining through a deep rift in the heavy clouds, like a fiery ball at the bot- tom of a hole, and throwing a ruddy glare over the heay- ing sea. | It was a grand, yet dreary and awful scene, and though Mab still looked calm and confident, and I tried to be hopeful, I saw no way of escape. ‘The ship being invisi- ble from the shore, we could expect no help from that quarter, even if a boat could have weathered the storm; and, unless { was much mistaken, we were a long way past Fairhaven and the creek. ‘lhe Diana was moving in a direction nor’-west by west—that 1s to say, obliquely toward the Painted Rocks. ‘he rate of her progress was regulated by the wind; when it blew hard she went fast; when the wind fell off, as it did at intervals, she be- came almost stationary. But, at the utmost, we could not count on a respite of more than three or four hours; and once among the Painted Rocks, our doom would be seuled. The ship must needs go to pieces at once, and the strongest swimmer in the world could not resist the impact. of those terrible waves. ‘he storm, moreover, showed no sign of abatement, and as the barometer was as low as ever, we could not count on any change for the better before night—perhaps not even then. ‘Not a very cheerful outlook,” said Mab, after a long silence, during which her thoughts had doubtless been of - the same color as my own. ‘‘ Nevertheless, I have a strong feeling that we shall escape, though I confess I don’t see how; and, as you know, my presentiments have a way of coming true. And I dreamed, a little while ago, as I slept in the saloon, that I saw a rainbow.” ‘You consider that a good omen?” ‘‘ How could you wish for a better? And, see, there is a rainbow!” | | It was true. Rain had begun to fall, and over the rocks and the mist, and, as it seemed, toucning them both, hung a most beautiful bow. But only for a mo- ment; a black cloud passed before the sun, and the ‘sion ” vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. “Keep up your courage, Mr. Erle!’ exclaimed Mab, (E(0) mm 0) (E(@) ,OOKS