* * * * *
But the wind grew wilder and wilder, and at seven bells in the first watch it was found necessary to get up steam.
The night was very clear now. A half or three-quarter moon had arisen, and every star shone like a diamond.
Hark to that shout!
It is three bells in the morning watch, and the senior midshipman's watch too.
Shoal water ahead.
"Hard a-port!"
Not a man fore or aft that did not hear that shout, not a man fore or aft that did not spring at once from cot or hammock.
And yet there was neither panic, fear, nor confusion; and if every one did hasten on deck even before the bos'n's pipe commenced to sound, it was only because he knew he would be needed, and because he wanted to know as speedily as possible the extent of the danger, and the chance, if any, of safety.