LESSON XXII.

Capture of a Slave Ship.—Part II.

board'-ing, getting on deck. craft, ship.

dis-con'-sol-ate, sorrowful.

ges-tic-u-late, to make mo

tions with the body.

met'-tle, bravery.

GOING round to the guns, I elevated them as much as possible, so as to try and hit her masts. The order was given to fire as each gun could be brought to bear. No easy task, let me observe, for so much did the brig heel over, that the men in the waist were up to their knees nearly all the time in water. It was a night to try their mettle, and none could behave better than did ours. Darkness was around us, an enemy at hand, and a dangerous shore under our lee. Once more the clouds cleared away, and the moonbeams shone on the schooner with all her canvas set, just about to cross our fore foot.

Now's your time, my men!" I sang out.

The foremost gun was the first fired, followed by the others in succession.

"He'll weather on us now, if we don't take care, and slip away in the wind's eye,” I exclaimed.

The captain thought so too, and again ordering me to fire right at her hull, gun after gun, as they were brought to bear, was poured into the slaver.

"Mr. Rawson," said the captain, addressing me, "there will be some difficulty in boarding that vessel, but I wish that you would go and take

possession of her. She is our first prize, and it would not do to let her slip through our fingers."

It was not particularly pleasant work in the heavy sea there was running. I had a brace of pistols, and a few cutlasses had been thrown into the boat. Thus prepared, we cast off, and the men bent bravely to their oars as the boat topped the heavy sea over which we had to pass. The brig showed a light for us to steer by, but the schooner was in no way so civil. On we pulled, however, in the hope of catching her, but though we had gone over fully the distance I calculated. she must have been from us, yet nothing of her could we see.

Disconsolate enough, I was steering back for the faint glimmer of light which I believed proceeded from the lantern on board the Gadfly, when I fancied I heard the loud flapping of a sail near us. There she is, sir," sung out the coxswain.

You're right. Give way, my boys," I cried; and in a few minutes we were alongside.

We quickly scrambled on board; it was fortunate that we met with no resistance. As we leaped over the bulwarks, we found only one man on deck, on the after-part of which he was standing by himself. He got into a furious rage when we appeared; we had evidently taken him by surprise.

This was the master of the slaver, who at length becoming convinced that there was no help for what had occurred, grew more calm, and told me

that everything he had in the world was embarked on board that craft, that he had set his canvas, and made every sheet and tack fast, when, sending all his people below, he himself had taken the helm, determined to weather us, or run his vessel under water.

"I should have escaped too," he continued, "if your shot had not carried away my topsails while all the hands were below. A quarter of an hour more and you might have looked for me in vain."

I did not tell him how nearly we were missing him after all; indeed, I had enough to do to watch him and his crew, and to see that they did not play us any trick. I never passed a more anxious night, but we kept close to the Gadfly, and hailed every time the bell was struck, to say all was right.

Towards morning the wind moderated and the sea went down, and at daylight a prize crew came on board to set the schooner to rights. This we were not long in doing, as her damages were slight. The slaves were set free, and the schooner was condemned as a slaver.

KINGSTON.

Coxswain. The petty officer on board a ship who has charge of a boat and its crew.

QUESTIONS.-1. What is a "broadside"? 2. Why was it dangerous to give the ship a broadside? 3. Why were the guns elevated as much as possible? 4. When is a ship said to "heel over"? 5. How was the slaver boarded? 6. What is meant by "striking the bell” on board ship? 7. What is a "brig"?

LESSON XXIII.

The Siege of Quebec.—Part I.

ac'-cess, means of approach. dis-em-bark-a-tion, landing

from ships.

em'-i-nence, rising ground.

in-ten'-si-ty, keenness.

in-trench'-ed, fortified.
un-chal'-lenged, not asked any

questions.
un-con'-sci-ous,
aware of.

not being

QUEBEC stands on the slope of a lofty eminence on the left bank of the St. Lawrence. A tableland extends westward from the citadel for about nine miles. The portion of the heights nearest the town on the west is called the Plains of Abraham. Wolfe, the English commander, had discovered a narrow path winding up the side of the steep precipice from the river. For miles on either side there was no other possible access to the heights. Up this narrow path Wolfe decided to lead secretly his whole army, and make the plains his battle-ground.

The extraordinary daring of the enterprise was its safety. The wise and cautious Montcalm, the French commander, had guarded against all the probable chances of war; but he was not prepared against an attempt for which the pages of romance can scarcely furnish a parallel.

Great preparations were made throughout the fleet and the army for the decisive moment; but the plans were still kept secret. At nine o'clock at night on the 13th of September, 1759, the first division of the army, 1600 strong, silently removed

into flat-bottomed boats.

The soldiers were in

high spirits: Wolfe led in person.

Silently and swiftly, unchallenged by the French sentries, Wolfe's flotilla dropped down the stream in the shade of the overhanging cliffs. The rowers scarcely stirred the waters with their oars; the soldiers sat motionless. Not a word was spoken, save by the young general. He, as a midshipman on board of his boat afterwards related, repeated, in a low voice, to the officers by his side, Gray's Elegy in a Country Churchyard;" and as he concluded the beautiful verses, he said, "Now, gentlemen, I would rather be the author of that poem than take Quebec!"

But while Wolfe thus, in the poet's words, gave vent to the intensity of his feelings, his eye was constantly bent upon the dark outline of the heights under which he was hurrying. He recognised at length the appointed spot (now called Wolfe's Cove), and leaped ashore. Some of the leading boats, conveying the light company of the 78th Highlanders, had in the meantime been carried about two hundred yards lower down by the strength of the tide. These Highlanders, under Captain M'Donald, were the first to land. Immediately over their heads hung a woody precipice, without path or track upon its rocky face. On the summit a French sentinel marched to and fro, still unconscious of their presence.

Without a moment's hesitation, M'Donald and