James Fenimore Cooper （b. 1789,d. 1851）. This celebrated American novelist was born in Burlington,N.J. His father removed tthe state of New York about 1790,and founded Cooperstown,on OtsegLake. He studied three years at Yale,and then entered the navy as a common sailor. He became a midshipman in 1806,and was afterwards promoted tthe rank of lieutenant;but he left the service in 1811. His first novel,"Precaution," was published in 1819;his best work,"The Spy," a tale of the Revolutionary War,in 1821. The success of "The Spy" was almost unprecedented,and its author at once took rank among the most popular writers of the day. "The Pilot" and "The Red Rover" are considered his best sea novels. "The Pioneers," "The Last of the Mohicans," "The Prairie," "The Pathfinder," and "The Deerslayer" are among the best of his tales of frontier life. The best of his novels have been translated intnearly all of the European languages,and intsome of those of Asia. "The creations of his genius," says Bryant,"shall survive through centuries tcome,and only perish with our language." The following selection is from "The Pilot."
1.The ship which the American frigate1 had now toppose,was a vessel of near her own size and equipage2;and when Griffith looked at her again,he perceived that she had made her preparations tassert her equality in manful fight.
2.Her sails had been gradually reduced tthe usual quantity,and,by certain movements on her decks,the lieutenant and his constant attendant,the Pilot,well understood that she only wanted tlessen1Frigate,a war vessel,usually carrying from twenty-eight tforty-four guns,arranged in twtiers on each side.
2Equipage,furniture,fitting out.the distance a few hundred yards tbegin the action. "Now spread everything," whispered the stranger.
3.Griffith applied the trumpet this mouth,and shouted,in a voice that was carried even this enemy,"Let fall-out with your booms-sheet home-hoist away of everything!"
4.The inspiring cry was answered by a universal bustle. Fifty men flew out on the dizzy heights of the different spars,while broad sheets of canvas rose as suddenly along the masts,as if some mighty bird were spreading its wings. The Englishman instantly perceived his mistake,and he answered the artifice1 by a roar of artillery. Griffith watched the effects of the broadside2 with an absorbing interest as the shot whistled above his head;but when he perceived his masts untouched,and the few unimportant ropes,only,that were cut,he replied tthe uproar with a burst of pleasure.
5.A few men were,however,seen clinging with wild frenzy tthe cordage,dropping from rope trope,like wounded birds fluttering through a tree,until they fell heavily intthe ocean,the sullen ship sweeping by them in a cold indifference. At the next instant,the spars and masts of their enemy exhibited a display of men similar ttheir own,when Griffith again placed the trumpet this mouth,and shouted aloud,"Give it tthem;drive them from their yards,boys;scatter them with your grape;unreeve their rigging!"
6.The crew of the American wanted but little encouragement tenter on this experiment with hearty good will,and the close of his cheering words was uttered amid the deafening roar of his own cannon. The Pilot had,however,mistaken the skill and readiness of their foe;for,notwithstanding the disadvantageous circumstances under which the Englishman increased his sail,the duty was steadily and dexterously performed.
7.The twships were now running rapidly on parallel lines,hurling at each other their instruments of destruction with furious1Artifice. skillful contrivance,trick.
2Broadside,a discharge of all the guns on one side of a ship,above and below,at the same time.
industry,and with severe and certain loss tboth,though with nmanifest1 advantage in favor of either. Both Griffith and the Pilot witnessed,with deep concern,this unexpected defeat of their hopes;for they could not conceal from themselves that each moment lessened their velocity through the water,as the shot of the enemy stripped the canvas from the yards,or dashed aside the lighter spars in their terrible progress.
8."We find our equal here," said Griffith tthe stranger. "The ninety is heaving up again like a mountain;and if we continue tshorten sail at this rate,she will soon be down upon us!"
"You say true,sir," returned the Pilot,musing,"the man shows judgment as well as spirit;but-"
9.He was interrupted by Merry,whrushed from the forward part of the vessel,his whole face betokening the eagerness of his spirit and the importance of his intelligence.-"The breakers!" he cried,when nigh enough tbe heard amid the din;"we are running dead on a ripple,and the sea is white not twhundred yards ahead."
10.The Pilot jumped on a gun,and,bending tcatch a glimpse through the smoke,he shouted,in those clear,piercing tones,that could be even heard among the roaring of the cannon,-"Port,port your helm! we are on the Devil‘s Grip! Pass up the trumpet,sir;port your helm,fellow;give it tthem,boys-give it tthe proud English dogs!"
11.Griffith unhesitatingly relinquished the symbol of his rank,fastening his own firm look on the calm but quick eye of the Pilot,and gathering assurance2 from the high confidence he read in the countenance of the stranger. The seamen were tobusy with their cannon and the rigging tregard the new danger;and the frigate entered one of the dangerous passes of the shoals,in the heat of a severely contested battle.1Manifest,visible tthe eye,apparent. 2Assurance,full confidence,courage.
12.The wondering looks of a few of the older sailors glanced at the sheets of foam that flew by them,in doubt whether the wild gambols of the waves were occasioned by the shot of the enemy,when suddenly the noise of cannon was succeeded by the sullen wash of the disturbed element,and presently the vessel glided out of her smoky shroud,and was boldly steering in the center of the narrow passages.
13.For ten breathless minutes longer the Pilot continued thold an uninterrupted sway1,during which the vessel ran swiftly by ripples and breakers,by streaks of foam and darker passages of deep water,when he threw down his trumpet and exclaimed-" What threatened tbe our destruction has proved our salvation.-Keep yonder hill crowned with wood one point open from the church tower at its base,and steer east and by north;you will run through these shoals on that course in an hour,and by sdoing you will gain five leagues of your enemy,whwill have tdouble their trail."
14.Every officer in the ship,after the breathless suspense of uncertainty had passed,rushed tthose places where a view might be taken of their enemies. The ninety was still steering boldly onward,and had already approached the two-and-thirty,which lay a helpless wreck,rolling on the unruly seas that were rudely tossing her on their wanton billows. The frigate last engaged was running along the edge of the ripple,with her torn sails flying loosely in the air,her ragged spars tottering in the breeze,and everything above her hull exhibiting the confusion of a sudden and unlooked-for check ther progress.
15.The exulting taunts and mirthful congratulations of the seamen,as they gazed at the English ships,were,however,soon forgotten in the attention that was required ttheir own vessel. The drums beat the retreat,the guns were lashed,the wounded again removed,and every individual able tkeep the deck was required1Sway,control,rule.tlend his assistance in repairing the damages tthe frigate,and securing her masts.
16.The promised hour carried the ship safely through all the dangers,which were much lessened by daylight;and by the time the sun had begun tfall over the land,Griffith,whhad not quitted the deck during the day,beheld his vessel once more cleared of the confusion of the chase and battle,and ready tmeet another foe.