Onward they bore, amidst the roaring mass of water, with a speed and force which nothing could resist; and striking the stem of the foremost vessel, crushed her beneath their keel. From the huge whirlpool which the sinking wreck occasioned, arose a shriek so loud and shrill⁠—the death-cry of a hundred drowning creatures, blended into one fierce yell⁠—that it rung far above the war-cry of the elements, and echoed, and reechoed till it seemed to pierce air, sky, and ocean. But what was that⁠—that old gray head that rose above the water’s surface, and with looks of agony, and screams for aid, buffeted with the waves! One look, and he had sprung from the vessel’s side, and with vigorous strokes was swimming towards it. He reached it; he was close upon it. They were