THE FLIGHT OF EUGENIE. 299 Poor Eugenie, who had been at length persuaded to lie down and take some rest, was soon rudely awakened. The wind rose until it blew a gale ; the sea became rougher and rougher ; at noon a heavy squall burst, carry- ing away the spinnaker boom, and, a few minutes later, -the wind veered suddenly, and the little yacht with sails close-reefed, prepared to beat slowly to windward. At half-past five the Isle of Wight was sighted ; and at half- past seven, the log records: " Made but little w T ay. Sea too heavy for yacht. Took another reef in sail and triced up tack. Yacht behaving splendidly. Tacking fre- quently ; all hands on deck and frequent thunder- showers." There are no further entries in the log until the vessel anchored off Kyde at half-past two in the morning. But, during the night, the storm became a tempest, masses of water fell upon the deck with loud and terrifying sounds, and the little cutter was pitched from one great wave to another. It was a night of peril and horror, and many times Eugenie gave up all hopes, and expected to find her grave at the bottom of the English Channel before morning. She bore herself, however, with coolness and courage, and drew some comfort from the calm and matter-of-fact demeanor of Lady Burgoyne, which excited her wonder and admiration. Once, when, as Madame Lebreton expressed it, " All cracked around us," she observed that she had just passed through a worse storm in Paris. But at length the danger was passed, and at three in the morning a breakfast was served in the cabin of the yacht, at which Eugenie was quite cheerful and at times even gay, making a joke out of many things which some hours before had seemed to her shocking and even terri- ble. Her health was drunk in champagne, and she returned thanks in a little informal speech, brief, but full
