sea, instead of going down, raged more fiercely than ever,
making the ship roll so violently that we feared that at any moment the
masts might be carried away. Yet all this time there was scarcely a
breath of wind. This state of things continued till about three
o'clock, when suddenly, as Brown had foretold, the gale again broke upon
us, and continued to blow with increasing violence until about two
o'clock on the following morning, when a more furious blast than ever
struck the ship.

"Hold on for your lives!" shouted Mr Griffiths, who was on deck.

The captain, followed by Dr Cockle, hurried from below. There was
little need to give the warning; we all clung to the weather-bulwarks.
Over went the ship right on her beam-ends, and away flew the storm
trysail, while every article not securely lashed was carried away.
Fearful indeed was the uproar. The wind howled savagely, the sea dashed
with thundering roars against the sides of the ship, the masts groaned,
the bulk-heads creaked, the ropes and blocks clashed together and
rattled in a way I had never before heard. Indeed, I believed that our
last moments had come, for it seemed impossible unless the masts went
that the ship would right. Jim and I and Horner crouched down close to
each other, sheltering ourselves as we could under the bulwarks. Not
far off were Miles Soper, Sam Coal, and Brown.

"Is there any chance for us?" asked Horner, his teeth chattering and his
voice showing his terror.

"Chance!" answered Brown; "the chance that many a stout ship has braved
as bad a hurricane, and yet come out of it not much the worse."

We looked out for the _Eleanor_, but she was nowhere to be seen. Some
of the men declared that she must have gone down.

"We're afloat and why shouldn't she be?" said Brown, who was ready to
cheer every one up.

Some of the hands stole below, and I believe if they could have got into
the spirit-room they would have made themselves drunk in order to forget
their fears. Most of us, however, preferred remaining on deck and
watching what would happen.

Suddenly, during a momentary cessation of the wind, the ship righted,
and we flew on before it, though matters in other respects seemed but
little mended. As the sea beat against the ship it seemed like a huge
battering-ram trying to knock her to pieces, every blow making each
plank shake though none gave way. Now she plunged her head into an
immense hollow, now she rose rapidly to