The reflections excited by this
examination brought painful recollections to all, and it was long before
the discourse was renewed.
In the mean time, the Winkelried was not idle. As the vessel receded from
the cover of the buildings and the hills, the force of the breeze was
felt, and her speed became quickened in proportion; though the watermen of
her crew often studied the manner in which she dragged her way through the
element with a shake of the head, that was intended to express their
consciousness that too much had been required of the craft. The cupidity
of Baptiste had indeed charged his good bark to the uttermost. The water
was nearly on a line with the low stern, and when the bark had reached a
part of the lake where the waves were rolling with some force, it was
found that the vast weight was too much to be lifted by the feeble and
broken efforts of these miniature seas. The consequences were, however,
more vexatious than alarming. A few wet feet among the less quiet of the
passengers, with an occasional slapping of a sheet of water against the
gangways, and a consequent drift of spray across the pile of human heads
in the centre of the bark, were all the immediate personal
inconveniencies.
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