' A TRAVELLER'S TALES ' 



195 



broken and shown us where we were, and a thick 

 mist settled down upon everything, a bhnding mist 

 that eddied round us in great swirUng wreaths and 

 curtains. I had been holding on with teeth and 

 tail all night and was glad of a rest, but I confess 

 that I felt a little anxious. Doom seemed to be 

 hanging over us. My foresight is there all right, 

 but it would be more useful to me if I could move 

 it a bit further forward ; it always seems to come 

 just a little too late to be of any real use. 



' However, I took the precaution of sneaking up 

 on deck and of hiding myself in a secluded corner 

 behind some tarpaulin. Lucky it was for me that 

 I did so, or I might have been drowned below, 

 even as many of my companions were, literally like 

 "rats in a hole"; for the wind, after leaving us 

 enveloped in our shroud of mist for half a day, 

 suddenly roused itself again from slumber, and sent 

 many of us to seek another shroud among the sea- 

 weed at the bottom of the ocean. 



' With a rush and a sweep the gale was upon us 

 once more, tearing away the mist like a rent veil, 

 and showing us jagged teeth of rock right under 

 our very bows. One awful glimpse we got of 

 their black fangs, and then, with a sickening crash 

 and a grinding of savage teeth upon our rotten 



IS— 2 



