A NIGHT'S PEKIL. 135 



with the pilotage to think of the weather, so had 

 implicitly trusted the observation of this to my watch- 

 mate. He ever and anon reported things looking 

 worse and worse. 



A fine dust of rain, as it were beating into my 

 face, made me look up, and I saw that we were in 

 for it. 



" Stand by there," I sang out. 



"Ay, ay," said Hamilton, and he did stand by with 

 the air of a regular blue-jacket. 



This was all the caution for which I had time. 

 The same moment the squall broke heavily upon us, 

 and the poor little Wave was thrown nearly right on 

 her beam-ends. 



"Luff there," I cried; "luff, man, quick." 



" Ay, ay," was the ready rejoinder ; but, alas ! just 

 the contrary was the thing done. Whether Hamilton 

 was flurried, or whether he never rightly knew what 

 luffing meant, he put the helm hard up. In swing- 

 ing off before the squall, she caught the full force of 

 the wind, and for one moment I thought all was over 

 with us. She went so far over that it seemed im- 

 possible that she should not capsize. But at the 

 same instant, and before one could well think of the 

 predicament, a jerk was felt, an explosion as of a 

 pistol was heard, and the little craft righted. The 

 mainsail had been blown clear away from the stay- 

 rope, and was fluttering about in ribbons. 



In a moment I saw the danger of our position. 



