"what on earth is it all about?" arthur hill asked his comrades as the three boys gathered together after the work was done. "why, there is not a breath of wind. is it all done for practice, do you think?"
jim shook his head. "i expect we are going to have one of those cyclones mr. timmins was speaking about the other day, though i don't see any signs of it, except the queer colour of the sky. i expect the glass must have been going down very fast. there is the captain popping into his cabin again. well, he is not long about it," he added, as captain murchison hurried out again and spoke to mr. timmins, who immediately gave the order, "furl mizzen and main topsails! lower down the fore-staysail!"
"well, there can't be more to do now," jack said, when the order was carried out, "unless we set to work to set them all again."[192]
"look, jack!" arthur hill said, grasping his arm and pointing away on the starboard beam.
a wall of black mist seemed to hang upon the horizon, rising momentarily higher and higher.
"the squall is coming, lads!" the captain shouted. "when it strikes her hold on for your lives. carpenter, put a man with an axe at each of the weather-shrouds. we may have to cut away before we have done with it."
all eyes were now turned towards the bank of cloud, which was rising with extraordinary rapidity. small portions of the upper line seemed at times to be torn off and to rush ahead of the main body, and then to disappear, suddenly blown into fragments. a low moaning sound was heard, and a line of white could be made out at the foot of the cloud-bank. the water around the ship was still as smooth as glass, though there was a slight swell, which swayed her to and fro, and caused the shrouds and blocks to rattle.
louder and louder grew the murmur. again the captain's voice was heard: "hold on for your lives, lads!" and then with a scream and roar, as of a thousand railway whistles, the gale struck the ship. so tremendous was the force, that although the closely-reefed fore-topsail was the only sail that the wild wave was showing aloft—for the jib blew from the bolt-ropes the instant the squall struck her—the vessel heeled over and over until her lee-rail was under water. further and further she went, until the ends of the yards were under water, and the sea seemed to jack, who was holding on by the weather bulwark, as if it were directly under his feet.
caught in the cyclone caught in the cyclone
[193]
he thought that the ship was going to capsize, and had not her cargo been well stowed she must have done so. she was now almost on her beam ends, pressed down by the action of the wind upon her hull rather than her masts, and had it not been that the boys had each at the last moment twisted a rope round his body, they must have dropped into the water, for the deck afforded no hold whatever to their feet. jack felt completely bewildered at the noise and fury of the wind. he had thought that after the gale they had passed through south of the cape, he knew what bad weather was; but this was beyond anything of which he had the slightest conception.
looking round he saw mr. timmins clinging to the bulwarks, and making his way along with the greatest difficulty until he reached the sailor stationed with the axe at the mizzen-shrouds, he saw the man rise from his crouching position, and, holding on to the bulwarks, strike three blows on the lanyards. then there was a crash, and the mizzen-mast broke suddenly off four feet above the deck and fell into the sea.
jack thought that the vessel lifted a little, for he could see one more streak of the deck planking. mr. timmins looked round towards the captain, who was clinging to the wheel. the latter waved his hand, and the mate again began to make his way forward. he passed the boys without a word, for the loudest shout would have been inaudible in the howling of the wind. he stopped at the main-shrouds again, the axe descended and the mainmast went over the side. the relief from the weight of the mast and the[194] pressure of the wind upon it was immediate; the wild wave rose with a surge and her lee-rail appeared above the surface, then she rose no further.
mr. timmins looked back again at the captain, but the latter made no sign. he could see that the pressure of the wind upon the foremast was beginning to pay the vessel's head off before it; as it did so she slowly righted until, when fairly before the wind, she was upon a level keel. then there was a dull explosion heard even above the gale, and the fore-topsail split into ribbons. but the ship was now before the gale, and was scudding, from the effect of the wind on the bare pole and hull alone, at great speed through the water. as soon as she had righted the lads threw off their lashings, but still clung tight to the rail, and struggled aft till they stood under shelter of the poop.
"this is something like!" jim roared at the top of his voice into jack's ear. even then his words could scarcely be heard.
jack nodded. at present, even had conversation been possible, he would have had no inclination for it, for he felt stunned and bewildered. it had all taken place in ten minutes. it was but that time since the ship had been lying motionless on a still ocean. now she was rushing, with one mast only standing, before a furious gale, and had had the narrowest possible escape from destruction. as yet the sea had scarce begun to rise, but seemed flattened under the terrific pressure of the wind, which scooped hollows in it and drove the water before it in fine spray.
jack had read in the papers about tornadoes in[195] america, and how houses were sometimes bodily lifted with their contents and carried long distances, and how everything above the surface was swept away as if a scythe had passed over it. he had heard these accounts discussed by the fishermen, and the general opinion in leigh was that there was mighty little truth in them. the leigh men thought they knew what a gale was, and what it could do. they knew that chimney-pots and tiles could be carried some distance with the wind, that arms of trees could be twisted off, and that an empty boat could be carried a considerable distance; but that a house could be bodily whirled away, was going so far beyond anything that came within their experiences as to be wholly disbelieved.
but jack knew now as he looked round that this and more was possible. he felt the whole vessel leap and quiver as the gust struck her, and this with only one bare pole standing, and he would have been scarce surprised now had the ship herself been lifted bodily from the water. as to walking along the deck, it would have been impossible. no man could have forced his way against the wind, and jack felt that were he to attempt to move from the sheltered spot where he was standing he would be taken up and carried away as if he were but a figure of straw. presently mr. hoare came down from the poop and dived into the cabin, making a sign to the lads to follow him. he stood there for a minute panting with his exertions.
"the captain has sent me down for a spell," he said. "he and the first and jack moore are all lashed to the wheel. sometimes i thought that all[196] four of us, wheel and all, would have been blown right away. well, lads, this is a cyclone, and you may live a hundred years and never see such another. you had better stop in here, for you might get blown right away, and can be of no good on deck. there is nothing to do. the wind has got her and will take her where it likes; we can do nothing but keep her straight. there will be a tremendous sea up before long. the water at the upper part of the bay is shallow, and we shall have a sea like yours at the mouth of the thames, jack,—only on a big scale.
"our lives are in god's hands, boys; don't forget to ask for help where alone it can be obtained. now i must be going up again. steward, give me a glass of weak grog and a biscuit. do you know, lads, my sides fairly ache. once or twice i was pressed against the wheel with such force that i could scarcely breathe, and if i had been pinned there by an elephant butting me i could not have been more powerless. that is right, steward, get me my oil-skin and sou'-wester from the cabin. you had better get a kettle on over the spirit-stove, so that we can have a cup of hot cocoa when we like. now then, i am ready for the fray again!" and buttoning himself closely up mr. hoare went on deck again.
jack moore was the next to come down. "captain's orders, steward. i am to have a glass of grog. well, young gentlemen, this is a gale and no mistake. i have been at sea over thirty years, and have never seen anything to be compared with it. if you get through this you need never be afraid of another; not if you live to be white-headed!"[197]
after jack moore had gone up mr. timmins and the captain came down by turns. each took a cup of cocoa. they said but few words to the boys, and were indeed almost too much exhausted by the struggle through which they had gone to be able to speak. the boys gathered again under the lee of the poop and watched the scene. it had changed considerably; the wind seemed as violent as ever, but the sea was no longer kept in subjection to it, and was now tossing itself in a wild and confused manner.
another half hour and it had settled in some sort of regularity, and was sweeping before the wind in deep trough-like waves with steep sides, resembling those to which jack had been accustomed in sea reach, on a gigantic scale. soon again these were broken up, and were succeeded by a wild tumultuous sea like a boiling cauldron. the vessel was thrown violently from side to side, taking water over, now on one beam now on the other, and at times shaking from blows as if she had struck upon a rock. so sharp and sudden were her movements that the lads could not keep their feet, and again made their way into the cabin. even here it was necessary to shout in order to be heard.
"what an extraordinary sea, jim! i never saw anything like it before."
"that is what it's from," jim replied, pointing to the tell-tale compass hanging from the beams overhead.
jack glanced at it. "why, we are running due south!"
"aye; and i expect we have been two or three[198] times round the compass already. that is what makes this frightful broken sea."
"well, as long as we keep on running round and round," jack said, "there is no fear of our running against the land anywhere."
jim was further advanced in the study of navigation. "you forget," he said, "the centre of the cyclone is moving along all the time, and though we may go round and round the centre we are moving in the same direction as the cyclone is going, whatever that may be."
for hours the storm raged without the slightest signs of abatement. the sea was now terrific; the waist of the ship was full of water. green seas swept over the vessel's bows, carrying everything before them, and pouring aft burst open the cabin door and deluged the cabin. by turns the boys made their way to the door and looked out.
"come out, you fellows!" jim tucker shouted after one of these trips of investigation. "the men are coming out from the fo'castle. there is something to be done."
the boys came out and crawled a few steps up the poop-ladder, holding on for life as they did so. they did not attempt to get on to the poop, for they felt they would be blown away if they exposed themselves there to the full force of the wind. looking round, the scene was terrible. the surface of the sea was almost hidden by the clouds of spray blown from the heads of the waves; a sky that was inky black hung overhead. the sea, save for the white heads, was of similar hue, but ahead there seemed a gleam of light. jim tucker, holding on by the rail,[199] raised himself two or three feet higher to have a better view. a moment was sufficient.
he sprang down again and shouted in his comrades' ears, "breakers ahead!" it needed no further words. the light ahead was the gleam of a sea of white foam towards which the vessel was hurrying. nothing could be done to check or change her course. had the mizzen been standing an effort might have been made to show a little sail upon it, and bring her head up into the wind to anchor; but even could this have been done the cables would have snapped like pack-threads. there was nothing for it but destruction. jack followed jim's example—crawled to the top of the gangway, and holding on by the poop-rail raised himself to his feet and looked forward.
right across their bows stretched a band of white breakers, and beyond through the mist he could make out the line of a low shore. the lads descended again into the waist, and with great difficulty made their way forward to where the men were huddled together round the entrance to the fo'castle. they too had kept a look-out, and knew of the danger into which they were running and the impossibility of avoiding it.
"is there anything to be done?" jim tucker shouted.
a silent shake of the head was a sufficient answer. the vessel and all in her were doomed. the officers were now seen leaving the helm and coming forward. it was a proof in itself of the hopelessness of the prospect. the vessel was indeed steering herself straight before the gale, and as there were no[200] regular following waves there was no fear of her broaching to. the boats, that had at the commencement of the storm been hanging from the davits, were all gone or useless. one or two had been smashed to pieces by heavy seas striking them; others had been torn from their fastenings and blown clean away.
the long-boat alone remained lashed amidships on the deck. jack pointed to her, but an old sailor shook his head and pointed to the sea. no boat could hope to live in it a minute. once in the breakers it would be swamped instantly. the officers made their way forward.
"it is all over, lads!" the captain shouted; "but some of us may reach the shore on pieces of the wreck as she breaks up. we will get the long-boat ready for launching: some of you may cling to her. now, lads, let us shake hands all round, and meet our fate as british sailors should do—calmly and bravely. at any rate some of us may be saved yet."
the crew of the wild wave had been a happy one. discipline had been good, although every indulgence had been allowed the men, and all were fond of her officers. there was a silent hand-clasp all round, and then some of the sailors followed the officers to the boat. as they did so they knew well that the order was given merely to keep them employed, for the chance of anyone being washed ashore and reaching it alive through the tremendous surf was small indeed. as they cut away the boat's cover they looked round, and a low cry broke from several of them. the ship was close to the broken water.[201]
every man clung to something and awaited the shock. in a few seconds it came. as she descended a wave there was a tremendous shock, followed instantaneously by a crash as the foremast went over the bow. another and another, accompanied each time with the sound of rending timbers.
"cut away the lashings of the boat!" the captain shouted, drawing his knife and setting the example. as he did so he touched jack and pointed into the bottom of the boat. the lad understood him. he was to put in the plugs, which at ordinary times were left out to allow any rain-water to escape as it fell. jack in turn touched arthur, and the two climbed into the boat to replace the plugs.
as they did so a fiercer gust than usual struck the vessel. the lashings of the long-boat had just been cut, and the gale seized it and raised it in the air as if it had been made of paper. jack and arthur uttered a cry, and involuntarily clung for life to the thwarts. over and over they were whirled. confused, giddy, scarce knowing what had happened, they clung on. it was a sort of nightmare, and how long it lasted they knew not. presently there was a terrific crash, and they knew no more.
