Despair was now on every countenance.

Occasionally a vivid flash of lightning would break forth and illuminate the black and boiling surges that surrounded the vessel, which was now scudding before the blast under bare poles.
After five days of most intensely stormy weather, the sea settled down into a dead calm, and the passengers flocked on deck.

During the last three days of the storm, Clotelle had been so unwell as to be unable to raise her head.

Her pale face and quivering lips and languid appearance made her look as if every pulsation had ceased.

Her magnificent large and soft eyes, fringed with lashes as dark as night, gave her an angelic appearance.