. I cannot, for it would do
no good; but some of you can surely pray. By the mass! I see the very
whale that swallowed Jonah ready to gulp me down."

He was clinging to some ropes as if he expected momentarily to be swept
away.

John Stevens went to bed, which was the most sensible thing he could do.
By daylight on the morning of the twentieth, the gale had increased to a
furious tempest, and the sea, keeping pace with it, ran mountains high.
All that day the passengers were kept close below hatches, for the sea
beat over the ship.

About seven o'clock on the morning of the twenty-first, John Stevens was
alarmed by an unusual noise upon deck, and running up, perceived that
every sail in the vessel, except the foresail, had been totally carried
away. The sight was horrible, and the whole vessel presented a spectacle
of despair, which the stoutest heart could not withstand. Fear had
produced not only all the helplessness of despondency, but all the
mischievous freaks of insanity. In one place stood the captain, raving,
stamping and tearing his hair in handfuls from his head. Here some of
the crew were upon their knees, clasping their hands and praying, with
all the extravagance of horror depicted in their faces. Others were
flogging their images with might and main, calling upon them to allay
the storm. One of the passengers from England had got hold of a bottle
of rum and, with an air of distraction and deep despair imprinted on his
face, was stalking about in his shirt, crying:

"Come, drink to oblivion, death we must meet; let us make the
dissolution easy." Perceiving that it was his intent to serve it out to
the few undismayed members of the ship's crew, John rushed on him,
seized the liquor and hurled it over into the raging sea.

Having accomplished this, Stevens next applied himself to the captain,
endeavoring to bring him back to his senses, and a realization of the
duty which he owed as commander to the passengers and crew. He appealed
to his dignity as a man, exhorted him to encourage the sailors by his
example, and strove to raise his spirits by saying that the storm did
not appear so terrible as some he had before experienced. While he was
thus employed, they shipped a sea on the starboard side, which all
thought would send them to the bottom. For a moment the vessel seemed to
sink beneath its weight, shivered and remained motionless. It was a
moment of critical suspense, and, fancying that they were grad