"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.
A CYCLONE.—IV.
"What an extraordinary sea, Jim! I never saw anything like it before."
"That is what does it," Jim replied, pointing to the tell-tale compass hanging from the beams overhead.