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ae THE EXAMINER,

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“Itis Frank Bennett, Senoray’? replied the young man, as he blushed beneath her earnest gaze. —

He was slim but well formed; aud looked very young, but in his dark blue eye and compressed lip, an obser- ver eould read one whose manhood was not made by years alone. M cheer

The sun. was setting behind a bank of slowly rising clouds, which threatened darkness and storm, The inoment. that his seryices were accepted, young Ben- nett turned to the crew, and as he glanced among them, said, “I want six. men to man, the whale-boat which hangs at the after-davits!”

Struck by his gallantry, nearly one half of the crew started forward. . Now that they, had a leader, volun- teers were plenty. Bennett glanced his eye over them, and in a few moments one Lam by name, wen whom he “I new to be both daring and firm. me Go sharpen ar . cutlasses,” said he: “{ shall. not have a pistol. ora musket jn the boat. If we fight, it -|must be steel to steel, and breast to breast; for we suc-

ceed or die!”

9 —— oer —

THE FIRST DECEMBER SNOW,

_As forthe first wild flower, In the early time of spring; As for the summer shower When the earth is languishing; As for the:rainbow’s blending; As for the day-stat’s glow— Have I looked for the descending Of the first December snow,

It comes! on pinions airy The virgin flakes alight, . Like the torn plumes-of a-fairy, — Or the.apple-blossoms white ; With undulating motion, _ The frozen ground they reach, Or melt into the ocean is

That booms along the beach. Those.men answered only with alook. They were

linia of that class whose, motto is “ Deeds not words.” They

Way perch Aiuete felling #8 harried. below to obey his orders, and others proceeded r :

by his directions to muffle the oars of the boat, to put sail, water, &c., in it. SY

One half hour later the sky was covered with clouds, and darkness had set in. Bennett had been careful to

Because on me ’tis calling

In the voice of long ago; Because it ever blendeth

With the, memories. of, the, boy ; Each flake as it descendeth

Enshrouds a perished joy! ast light of the dyin aneesionied tein Mes

alone he hoped to a ae At oe ~~ the — ~_

on deck, standing by the binnacle-light, regarding the

z a ov mg anny 3 preparations of ie little party who were about to shove

T felt the fied wil gushing off. “At the moment when the boat’s crew cried out Of a spirit witkoutsgarcly that all was ready fora start, their young leader came

How through the drifts that whitened aft to the side a the Senora, and taking from his neck Our window sills at home, a minature, he handed it and a letter to her, saying:

I dashed with heart unfrightened, “If [am not on board at sunrise, lady, please send

bvhi that minature tothe direction of the letter.” Rie enforce The lady looked at the picture. It was the likeness

of a yonng and beautiful girl. A’tear filled the Seno- ra’s eye.

“You need not go!” said she. “No: you love, per- chance are beloved. Yonr life is precious—I will not expose it. "This is—” Bee

“ My only sister, whom I most adore,” mterrupted the youth ; “bat one who wouldscorn me if [ plaved the coward or dishonoured my name. Send the letter and likeness to her, if [ fall. Farewell till to-morrow—or, forever.” '

The lady was about to answer, and again to entreat him to stay; butere she could speak he was over the bulwarks, and the boat had shoved off.

The night was pitchy dark, A calm was onthe sea and in the air, but portentous of astorm. A small bin- nacleJight and compass had been placed in the boat, land by these Frank shaped his course, himself taking the tiller and steering.

“Give way cheerly, men!—a long, a strong, and steady pull!” said he ina low tone, as he left the ship’s side; and he soon felt, by the trembling of the frail ‘boat, that his directions were obeyed.

“CanamBa! Que Insovexcta!” These words were) Out right into the offing he pulled, regardless of the wttered by a lovely woman, whose flushed cheek, flash- rising clouds; keeping his eye fixed steadily on his

And then the merry ringing Of the sleigh-bells at the door, And the winter evening, bringing A thousand pleasures more! And the dear friends who surrounded Our log-devouring hearth, And the old songs that resounded, And the hours of blameless mirth!

Ab, first snow of December! These joys thou dost recall ; But with them L remember ‘They shall no more befall : Companions have departed, With whom that season fled ; And some are weary-hearted, And some are with the deads

THE CAPTURED BANNER!

BY NED BUNTLINE.

- ing eye, and knitted brow, spoke even more than words, compass, untikhe knew if the vessel had remained hove

of indignation which filled her heart. ‘to as she was at sun set, that he must be very near her. She was the yoang wife of Commodore Coe, the com-| But he looked in vain to see her dark hull loom up in the mander of the small navy of Montevideo. ‘The lady gioom; he looked in vain to see alight which might was Spanish by birth, as well as in feeling, and the) guide to her. cause of her anger was the sight ofaship which had, Admiral Brown was too old a fox to show his position been for two days standing off and on before the har- by lights. bour, using every signal of insult and defiance, to in-| At this moment, when he was completely at.a loss duce the vessel of Cog to come out and fight him,— which way to steer, the dark clouds which had been This the latter could not do, for two reasons—the first gathering over him burst into along. vivid fash of light- was illness, which confined him to his cot; the-second, ning, and a pealof deafening thunder. He-heard not that he had net the third of a crew—not even men the thunder, he heeded not the rising storm, for that enoug! to work his battery. ‘flash of lightning had showed him the yessel, not one At the moment when she uttered the words that com-, cable’s length from him. mence this sketch, Brown, the commander of the Bue-| “Steady, boys!—steady !” he whispered when the nos-Ayrean ship, had hoisted a flag at his gaff} whereon thunder ceased, “Ishalk pull directly under her stern, was em roidered, in large legible letters, the inscription and go on board ;” and thenas he glanced up at the “ Coe, the Coward !? This was, more than his noble, gaff, where the flag had been hoisted, he saw that it was fiery wife could stand; for well she knew her husband’s not there! It had been pulled down! truth and valor. After gazing one instant at the flag,! [He pansed; thought fora, moment what could be she raised her jewelled hand, and taking. therefrom a}done; and then formed his resolution. diamond. of great value, she cried to the officers and| “I shall go on board alone, men,” said he; “keep men who stood around her on the ceck :

|his ear, andere the alarm beeame general, he’

take the compass-course of the enemy’s ship when the

tents of a square bottle which looked very like that us. ually found to, contain schnaps.

A glance ata settee just to the left of this table showed the object of the enterprise. The flag for which’ he ‘had periled ‘his life lay theré, where it had been carelessly thrown after'it was hauled down:

The young officer did not.pause long to consider what to do, but quietly walked into the cabin, and taking off his cap, bowed very politely to the officers and as lie stepped toward the flag, said’in a calm and courteous manner to the admiral.

“+[ have come to borrow this banner, sir, to wear to- morrow, if you please !”

“Who the devil are you? What does this mean? cried’ Brown, as he and his officers sprang to their feet,

« [| am Midshipman Bennett, sir, of the Montevideaa service!” replied Frank, who had now seized the flag; “and Imean to carry this flag to Commodore Coe !”

As he said this he owe ae the cabin door, follow. ed closely by a bullet from Brown’s pistol, whieh g :

+ stood upon the taffrail of the vessel. .

“Look out, for me below !” he shouted, and flung himself into the sea, without a moment’s hesitation — Eis boat’s crew recognised his veice, he was caught in a moment and dragged into the’boat, while a volley of pistol balls was sent down at random by those who were above. i adhe

The storm had now broken, and the wind began to come in with fieree and fitful gusts. ba

“Up foresail !—-hurra, lads!—vp foresail, and let her slide!” cried the young hero, as soon) as he’ could breathe after his ducking... .,.)i peel) &&os om

The crew did so, and. the next moment the little boat was flying in towards the harbour before the blast, like a glad sea-bird winging its way to its young one’s nest. ri qey

The enemy opened a harmless random fire of grape shot in their direction, but it only served to tell the anxious watchers on board of Coe’s vesselthat some- thing had oecurred. ‘The lattertherefore at once show- ae lights, and enabled. Frank to make a straight course or her.

It was but half'an hour after the first gun had been fired by Brown’s vessel, that the boat of our young ad- venturer rounded to, alongside of his own craft.

‘“ Have you captured the flag ?” cried the Senora, as, Bennett bounded over the side. :

The only answer she received was the banner, wet as fromthe water, and cut in two places by the balls which had been fired at its captor.:

The lights of the vessel gleamed not half so bright as did that lady’s eyes when she caught the noble youth in her arms, and kissed him again and again.

TRACINGS OF THE ALPS.

Ye Ice-falls! ye that, from the Mountain’s brow, Adown enormous Ravines slope amain— Torrents, me thinks, that heard a mighty Voice, And stopped at once amid their maddest plunge ! Motionless torrents! silent cataracts ! Who made you glorious as the gates of Heaven Beneath the full keen Moon? COLERIDGE. Tne first sight of the Alps. is.an era in one’s exist- ence. [had of course read of them since | had read anything, had heard people describe their beauty and sublimity as something wonderful, and fully prepared myself fora natural scene far beyond any that ever met my eyes before. Yet se truly inconceivable are the extraordinary features of nature, that the reality came at last with the force of perfect novelty. It is not, however, that the objects impress us in proportion to their actual magnitude. On the contrary, [ am willing to own that, taking Ben Nevis at 4:370 feet, our impres- sion from it is not multiplied by quite so much as three when we: behold an Alp known to be 13,000. When we look, moreover, at the Staubach, and know that that misty cascade falls directly froma rock as high above the place where we stand as the top of Arthur’s Seat is above the plain at its foot, we do not receive the im- pression of altitude which we would.expect. The men- tal eye seems to get accommodateed to the new scale on which all nature is cast, and thus, it would appear, ‘there is even a kind of disappointment inevitable to all fresh visitants of the Alps. Yet no.such feeling ever

the boat where sheis. Ifthe flag is where think it is,tells or can tell upon them, as the actua! appearance

“T will give this diamond to any man who will bring I will have it. If fam not back in five minutes, and yon) of all objects is far more than, enough to solemnify and

me yonder flag !”

‘hear no alarm, shove off.to.our ship, and tell them that delight any mind of the least sensibility. We may lose

For a momert there was no response. The men look-| Frank Bennett died like aman! You must be cautious ;,much, because, in fact, we can nowhere get into.

ed at their ofiicers, the officers glanced at each other,|reef the foresail, for the storm, will be down upon us in but volunteers for a service so desperate seemed scarce. | less than ten minutes!”

“What? is there not one of all of you who dare the trial? Is my husband’s ship indeed manned with cow- ards :” exclaimed the dady, while her beautiful lip curl- ed with scorn, and her flashing eye gleamed with the fre of Contempt. . a

A young officer, an Englishman who had. been lately appointed, stepped forward and modestly said :

“ | was only waiting for my seniors to speak, Senora. | Had any one of them volunteered, [should have begged to accorapany him. As it is, I pledge myself to. bring you yonder flag before the sun rises again, or do die ! But | ask not your jewel as a prize for my success; gne tress of your glossy hair shall be my reward.”

“ You shall have both, brave boy !” replied the lady;

All of this was whispered to the men whose heads

not disobey, much.as they wished to share their leader’s peril. al : : Springing lightly front the boat, Frank caught the quarter-netting with his hands, and ‘oiselessly ascend- ed tothe bulwarks, He coutd hear the regular tramp of the officer of the deck, who having already had every thing reefed down for the blow, had nothing to do but to pace. the. deck ; but it was so dark that he could not see him.

A second more and the brave boy was down on the deck, and at the cabin door, which stood slightly ajar. ‘He peeped in through the narrow crack, and saw the red faced oll Admiral seated at his ronnd table with

and her cold look of scorn changed into a sweet smile, as sho asked his name. '

itivo of his officers by his side,engaged over the con-|

position where the whole mass of any part of the Alps may bear upon our sense at once; but still, whether we wander undér the shades of those mighty hills, or pass

were bent forward to hear the orders. which they dared over any part of them, whether we survey them from

some elevated peak, or from some distant point—such as Vevay,or Berne, or even:the Jure—we must confess. with hushed and awe-struck spirit, that our ideas ot” ‘external nature are receiving an extension which might almost be said to double ina moment all the.former ex- periences of a life. .

The Alps may be comprehensively. described as the central eminent ground. of Western Europe, & fact clearly enough indicated by the descent of the affluents of the Rhone, Rhine, Danube, and Po from the midst of them, each to fall ito its own sea, It has been dis-, covered of late years that they donot form what may properly be called chains of mountains, but rather

groups surrounding certain centres, these centres being