Such was the situation of the Winkelried, when the
omens of the night changed to their dread reality.
Instinct, in cases of sudden and unusual danger must do the office of
reason. There was no necessity to warn the unthinking but panic-struck
crowd to provide for their own safety, for every man in the centre of the
barge threw his body flaon the deck, and grasped the cords that Maso had
taken care to provide for that purpose, with the tenacity with which all
who possess life cling to the means of existence. The dogs gave beautiful
proofs of the secret and wonderful means that nature has imparted, to
answer the ends of their creation. Old Uberto crouched, cowering, and
oppressed with a sense of helplessness, at the side of his master, while
the Newfoundland follower of the mariner went leaping from gangway to
gangway, snuffing the heated air, and barking wildly, as if he would
challenge the elements to close for the strife.
A vast body of warm air had passed unheeded athwart the bark, during the
minute that preceded the intended sacrifice of Balthazar. It was the
forerunner of the hurricane, which had chased it from the bed where it had
been sleeping, since the warm and happy noon-tide.
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