AT THE MERCY OF THE HURRICANE 273 



"Boys, are you all right?" when the 

 joyous response from each and all of us was, 

 " All right, thank God ! " 



Closely following on the heels of this wave 

 was the wind with its hurricane force, and 

 those of my readers who have not experienced 

 its power know little of it. All the sail on 

 that vessel was not over 180 square feet when 

 the real hurricane struck her and bore her 

 down on to her beam ends again. As she 

 gathered speed, and the wind, which was at 

 first puffy, grew steady, she righted so that 

 her lee-rail was in the water. With wonderful 

 speed she was angling her way across the 

 track of it, when all of a sudden our topsail 

 blew away, leaving only the rope behind. 

 To add to our troubles which we all know 

 never come single even to sailors the yard- 

 arm gasket of the square-foresail had blown 

 loose, and, unless immediately secured, was 

 likely to blow away too, or, if loosened, to 

 upset us. 



While the mate was obtaining canvas to 

 supply the place of the lost topsail, the rest 

 of us started aloft to secure the foresail. To 

 state here that on our way up the fore-shrouds 



T 



