Explore "The Freebooters" by Gustave Aimard on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
The Jaguar spoke truly when he said that the task the conspirators were about to undertake was rude. Swimming side by side, the Texans advanced in a straight line in the direction of the fort, which the obscurity prevented them seeing. The sea was rough and lumpy; heavy waves poured in, and rolled at every moment on their heads; the wind redoubled its violence; the terrible coromuel, the scourge of these coasts, where it causes so many shipwrecks, had risen; there was not a star in the sky to guide these determined men.
They swam on -- not a cry, moan, or sigh revealing any fatigue or discouragement on their part. At the head of the gloomy line formed by the energetic heads of the conspirators, the Jaguar progressed alone. Three-quarters of an hour passed, during which all the strength and courage the human will possesses were expended in this struggle of giants by these men, whom nothing could quell. Not one had broken down; the line was still compact, and they advanced with the same vigour. Before them, at about a musket shot distance, a denser shadow was visible in the gloom, thrown out by the enormous mass of the fortress they were approaching!