peal which made me vacate my seat by the taffrail, the heavens grew
blacker and blacker, the darkness settling down on the ship so that one
could hardly see one's hand even if held close to the face; but, after a
bit, a meteor-like globe of electric light danced about the spars and
rigging, making the faces of all those aft look ghastly with its pale
blue glare. They seemed just as if they were dead.

A second or two later, some heavy warning drops of rain, as big as
saucers, fell on the deck, with a dull splashing noise; and while we
were all waiting with some anxiety for what was to be the outcome of all
this atmospheric disturbance, Captain Miles ascended the poop-ladder,
his face being distinctly illumined by the meteor, which was apparently
at that moment hovering about the slings of the main-yard.

The captain had been roused out by the sound of the men's feet busily
trampling about the decks and the hauling of the ropes, as the main
topgallant halliards and sheets were cast-off and the clew-lines and
bunt-lines manned during the operation of taking in sail, so he came up
expecting to find that the long-wished-for breeze had overhauled us; but
he only saw, instead, the vessel as motionless on the water as when he
went below, albeit now almost denuded of her canvas.

After glancing round the ship, whose every outline was brought out in
relief by the meteoric light, he warmly praised Jackson for his
precaution in reducing sail.

"You've done quite right," he said, "only you haven't quite gone far
enough, my boy. I think we'd better have the courses furled and the
topsails reefed. We're in hurricane latitudes and this is the very
month for them. I don't like the sky at all."

"Watch, ho!" thereupon shouted Jackson. "Up you go and furl the
mainsail."

This was soon accomplished, after which there was a scurry up the
ratlines forward and the foresail followed suit, and thus, the topsail
halliards were let go and the yards dropped on the caps for the men to
lay out and double reef the upper sails, when they were again hoisted up
only about a third of their former size, and looking like slabs of board
against the masts, everything being hauled taut.

"We'll have it soon now," said Captain Miles--"hark!"

As he spoke, there was a rumbling noise in the distance, approaching
nearer and nearer every second, and then, there came another deafening
roar of thunder right over our heads, followed by a deadly zigzag