THE STORM BEGINS 271 



out of which none of us might pass to tell the 

 story. " Boys," the captain asked, " is every- 

 thing secure ? " To which the men replied, 

 "Ay, ay, sir! " " Then each one take his 

 station to man those main-topsail braces, and 

 see you have a rope at your hand and some- 

 thing solid to fasten it to at a moment's warn- 

 ing, so as to secure yourselves." 



There were not many happy hearts in 

 that crew just then. Up to that time 

 there was apparently not a breath of wind, 

 and the vessel lay sluggishly on the water. 

 The captain and second mate were lashed by 

 the wheel, to take charge of it when needed. 

 Now there strikes a "cat's-paw" (a puff of 

 wind), quickly followed by another, and fortu- 

 nately a little abaft the beam, so that our 

 close-reefed topsail felt it and started the vessel 

 into steering, which was our salvation. 



Oh, the thunder and lightning ! We poor 

 souls were clinging with terror, as it shook 

 the very spars in our helpless little craft. 

 The wind increased rapidly, and now the 

 Albion was moving at a quarter course the 

 object being, as the captain told us after- 

 wards, to run out of it, as the track of a 



