as a proof of respect for the memory of their deceased friend, he and
his brother officers had taken the liberty of defraying the expenses
of her voyage.

Consequently the bill he had given was for the full amount of her
original deposit; and thus, like the brethren of Joseph, _she found
all her money in the sack's mouth._ Being a stranger in Ireland,
without a friend to look out for a proper vessel in which to embark
for Scotland, she and her children went passengers in a packet; on
board of which, as she afterwards learned, there was not even a
compass. A storm arose and they were tossed to and fro for nine hours
in imminent danger. The rudder and the mast were carried away; every
thing on deck thrown overboard; and at length the vessel struck in the
night upon a rock, on the coast of Ayr, in Scotland. The greatest
confusion pervaded the passengers and crew. Among a number of young
students, going to the University at Edinburgh, some were swearing,
some praying, and all were in despair. The widow only remained
composed. With her babe in her arms she hushed her weeping family, and
told them that in a few minutes they should all go to join their
father in a better world. The passengers wrote their names in their
pocket-books, that their bodies might be recognized and reported for
the information of their friends. One young man came into the cabin,
asking, "Is there any peace here?" He was surprised to find a female
so tranquil; a short conversation soon evinced that religion was the
source of comfort and hope to them both in this perilous hour. He
engaged in prayer and then read the 107th Psalm. While repeating these
words, "he maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are
still," the vessel swung off the rock by the rising of the tide. She
had been dashing against it for an hour and a half, the sea making a
breach over her, so that the hold was now nearly filled with water.