pitch.

"Ay, ay, sir; I hear it sure enough," was the reply. "It's coming now.
Look out, sir I lay hold on anything you can put your hand upon. Hard
a-starboard with your helm! Look out there, for'ard!"

Louder and louder grew the sound until it became absolutely deafening,
and then with an awful overwhelming rush the gale burst upon us. It
struck the schooner fair on her starboard, broadside, and stout and
staunch as was the craft, she bowed beneath it until her larboard
gunwale was buried.

"Good heavens!" I thought, "she is going over, she is going to turn the
turtle with us!" as I felt the incline of the deck getting steeper and
steeper beneath my feet, and I turned and clawed my way aft toward the
wheel. On reaching it I found there was someone already there.

"Hard a-weather; over with it, man; hard over!" I yelled as I got hold
of the spokes and vainly strove to move the helm.

"It _is_ hard a-weather, sir," shrieked Tompion's voice in reply; "but
we're done for, sir; if she won't pay off she's bound to capsize."

"Stick to her," I shouted back as I threw my whole weight on the spokes
to leeward, "I can feel a tremor in the wheel; she's gathering head-
way!"

Such was indeed the case, and after a few breathless seconds, during
which it seemed that another inch of inclination would have sufficed to
turn her bottom up, the schooner began to right, recovering herself at
last with a jerk which filled the decks fore and aft with water, and
flying away before the gale like a frightened steed.

The craft always steered like a little boat, and once fairly before the
wind Tompion could easily keep her there single-handed, so, letting go
the wheel and slanting myself backward against the force of the blast,
which pressed upon my body like a solid wall, and demanded all my
strength to prevent my being helplessly run forward, I made a snatch at
the binnacle and peered into it. We were heading due east, which was a
great relief to my mind, as I knew that we had plenty of sea-room in
that direction, and could run for days if need were without bringing up
against anything. A man came working his way aft, hauling himself along
by the bulwarks, to relieve the wheel, and Tompion joined me under the
partial shelter of the companion.

"That was a narrow squeak, sir, if ever there was one," he remarked.
"When you joined me at the wheel I wouldn't have given a brass farthing
for our chance; but we shall do well eno