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 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 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 go up again. 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 oilskin 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. "Well, young gentlemen," said he,
"this is a gale and no mistake. I have been at sea over thirty years,
and never saw anything to be compared with it. If you get through this
you need never be afraid of another, even if you live to be
white-headed!"
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 into 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 at home, 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.