ition, and never feared to express his opinions freely.

Just then a sea rose on the weather quarter, threatening, apparently, to
fall inboard. So many waves had done the same thing before, that no one
seemed to regard it much; but the experienced eye of the skipper noticed
a difference, and he had barely time to give a warning shout when the
wave rushed over the side like a mighty river, and swept the deck from
stem to stern. Many loose articles were swept away and lost, and the
boat which lay on the deck alongside of the mast, had a narrow escape.
Billy and his friend Luke, being well under the lee of the bulwarks,
escaped the full force of the deluge, but Ned Spivin, who steered, was
all but torn from his position, though he clung with all his strength to
the tiller and the rope that held it fast. The skipper was under the
partial shelter of the mizzenmast, and clung to the belaying-pins. John
Gunter was the only one who came to grief. He was dashed with great
violence to leeward, but held on to the shrouds for his life. The mate
was below at the moment and so was Zulu, whose howl coming from the
cabin, coupled with a hiss of water in the fire, told that he had
suffered from the shock.

The immense body of water that filled the main-sail threw the vessel for
a short time nearly on her beam-ends--a position that may be better
understood when we say that it converts one of the sides of the vessel
into the floor, the other side into the ceiling, and the floor and deck
respectively into upright walls!

Fortunately the little smack got rid of the water in a few seconds,
arose slowly, and appeared to shake herself like a duck rising out of
the sea. Sail had already been reduced to the utmost; nevertheless, the
wind was so strong that for three hours afterwards the crew never caught
sight of the lee-bulwarks, so buried were they in foam as the _Evening
Star_ leaned over and rushed madly on her course.

Towards morning the wind moderated a little, and then the crew gazed
anxiously around on the heaving grey waves, for well did they know that
such a squall could not pass over the North Sea without claiming its
victims.

"It blowed that 'ard at one time," said Ned Spivin to Joe Davidson,
"that I expected to see the main-mast tore out of 'er."

"I'm afeard for the _Rainbow_," said Joe. "She's nothin' better than a
old bunch o' boards."

"Sometimes them old things hold out longer than we expect," returned
Ned.