here they are,
about two and a half miles to the nor'-west of the point. But I don't
see why old Trimble need worry about them, for if we can't weather them
there is plenty of room for us to pass them to leeward, after having
done which we shall have plenty of time to decide upon our next move.
That is our critical point." And he put his finger on Point du Raz.
"I'm going on deck to see how things look."

So saying, Maxwell rolled up his chart, put it and his instruments away,
turned up the collar of his jacket, and sprang up the ladder, Gascoigne,
Fleming, and I following him.

Upon our arrival the first thing I noticed was that the Captain, the
first luff, and the master were all standing together close under the
shelter of the weather bulwarks, apparently holding a sort of council of
war. The weather, I thought, looked somewhat more promising than it had
done when I went below; for the sky to windward had broken, displaying a
very wild and stormy sunset, it is true, yet the fact that the heavy,
lowering canopy of cloud had broken up at all seemed to indicate that
the worst would soon be over. But it was still blowing very heavily,
and while the atmosphere was now quite clear of mist, permitting us a
view to the extreme confines of the horizon, everything--the wild,
tumultuously heaving sea to windward, and the land ahead and to
leeward--showed a preternaturally hard outline. Point du Raz was now
about three miles distant and bore about a point, or maybe a trifle more
on the lee-bow, with the surf breaking furiously upon the reef which
projected beyond it, while the leeward extremity of the reef jutting out
from the easternmost extremity of the Isle de Seins lay dead ahead,
smothered in boiling surf, the passage between the two reefs now looking
alarmingly narrow. And it was through that passage we must win safety!

I was of course on the lee-side of the deck, so I could only catch an
occasional disconnected word of what passed between the trio to
windward, but I presently gathered that the master seemed to be
endeavouring to persuade the skipper to wear ship while we still had
room enough to execute that manoeuvre; but Captain Vavassour appeared to
be objecting, upon the plea that, once on the other side of the point,
we had nothing more to fear, whereas, should we wear ship now, we should
be heading for the Penmarks as soon as we got round upon the other tack,
and should reach them, and be faced with the tas