who was on the forecastle near the bow.

"Hard a-port! Hard a-port!"

And Captain Solomon gave one great jump for the wheel. "Hard a-port,
you lubber!" he cried. "Can't you hear?"

And he grabbed the wheel and whirled it over, and the ship swung off,
but she didn't swing very quickly, for the _Industry_ wasn't very quick
at minding her helm. But she did mind it in time, and just as she swung
off she shot past something floating. And Captain Solomon looked and he
saw that the floating thing was the hull of a great ship. The masts were
all gone close to the deck and the hulk barely showed above the water,
so that the waves washed over it, although there wasn't much of a sea
and the waves weren't high at all. And when he saw that they were safely
past the wreck, he turned the wheel the other way, and brought the
_Industry_ back again, and he had the sailors change some of the sails
so that she wouldn't go ahead.

Then he called the sailor who had been on the forecastle, looking out,
and he gave that sailor a blowing up, and he was very angry and he blew
the man sky-high. He said that it was nothing but luck that they weren't
all sent to the bottom, for the _Industry_ was heading straight for the
floating hulk, and if they had struck it, their chances wouldn't have
been worth one of his grandmother's cookies. And he said some other
things; and the sailor didn't answer back, for it is not a good plan to
answer back to the captain, especially if that captain was Captain
Solomon and was angry. But he seemed ashamed and slunk back muttering
that he wasn't blind and he was keeping as good a lookout as could be
expected, and nobody could have imagined that there would be that old
hulk right in their course, anyway. But Captain Solomon didn't hear him,
which was lucky for him.

Then Captain Solomon ordered the mate to have out a boat and go and see
what the hulk was, and whether, by chance, there was anybody aboard of
it, or anything to tell when she had been abandoned. And he told the
mate to take with him a good supply of oil and some oakum and to set
fire to the wreck as soon as he was through with her. And the mate had
the sailors get out the boat, and he took the oakum and a big bucket of
oil, and he was rowed away to the wreck, that was about a quarter of a
mile away by that time and shining in the moonlight. And Captain
Solomon saw the boat come near the wreck and make fast under her stern,
and he saw the mate go on b