FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116  
117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   >>   >|  
at the top of the companion, peering out. "You can come out, gentlemen, for a bit. She is running on an even keel now, though that won't last long. No one hurt below, I hope." "Two or three of us have got bruised a little, captain; and I think we have all of us got a severe fright. We thought she was over." "I thought so, too," the captain said. "Luckily she has got three hundred tons of iron on board, and it's all stowed at the bottom of the cargo, so that helped her up again; but it was touch and go with her, for half a minute. "And now, gentlemen, if you will take my advice you will just look round, and then go below and turn in. Now you can do so easily. Another hour, and there will be no keeping a footing." The captain was right. In less than the time he named, a terrific sea had got up. The Paramatta had already made more than one circuit of the compass. There was no regularity in the sea. It seemed to rise suddenly in heaps, now striking the ship on one side, now on another, and pouring sheets of water over her bulwarks. The motion of the vessel was so tremendous that even Bill Hardy and the older seamen could only move along with the greatest difficulty to carry out the orders of the captain; while Reuben clung to the shrouds, now half buried in water, now almost hanging in the air, with the sea racing along under his feet. As yet no more sail had been put upon her, for there was no following sea. Although running almost before the gale, a slight helm was kept upon her, so as to edge her out from the centre of the storm; and the second circle of the compass took more than twice as long as the first to complete, although the vessel was proceeding with equal speed through the water. Hour after hour the sea got up--a wild, cross, broken sea--and the motion of the vessel was so terrific as to be almost bewildering to the oldest hands. There was none of the regular rise and fall of an ordinary sea; the vessel was thrown with violent jerks, now on one side, now on the other; now plunging her bow so deeply down that she seemed about to dive, head foremost, beneath the waves; now thrown bodily upwards, as if tossed up by some giant hand beneath her. The watch off duty was sent below, for there was nothing that could be done on deck; and the water swept over her in such masses as to threaten, at times, to carry everything before it. One man had had his leg broken. Several had been seriously bruised and
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116  
117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

captain

 

vessel

 

thrown

 
broken
 
compass
 

terrific

 

motion

 

bruised

 

thought

 

gentlemen


running

 

beneath

 

masses

 
slight
 
centre
 

racing

 
Several
 

buried

 

hanging

 
threaten

Although

 

upwards

 

shrouds

 

ordinary

 

violent

 

tossed

 
regular
 

bodily

 

deeply

 
plunging

proceeding

 

complete

 
foremost
 

bewildering

 
oldest
 

circle

 

regularity

 

hundred

 

Luckily

 

fright


stowed

 

minute

 

bottom

 

helped

 

severe

 
companion
 
peering
 

advice

 

pouring

 
sheets