"Ship ahoy!" came the hail, in startled tones, through the darkness. "Keep away! Don't run into me!"
"Mind your own business!" shouted Friday, in reply. "This ship has got her own officers on board."
Xury had been warned just in time to avoid running into a vessel lying at the wharf. He put the helm to port, but the yacht, being without a head-sail, obeyed very slowly. By the light of a lantern, which the governor held over the side, the Crusoe band discovered that they were rushing by the side of a large ship, and so close to her that they could almost touch her. But Xury understood his business, and in a moment more that danger was passed, and the Storm King was scudding toward the other side of the harbor.
"O, now, I can't stand this," drawled Tom Newcombe, who was utterly confounded by the recklessness displayed by the Crusoe band. He stood holding fast to the rail, and, had it been daylight, the governor would have seen that his face was deadly pale, and that he was trembling in every limb, as if he had been seized with a fit of the ague. The wind had carried his cap overboard, but he was so completely engrossed in thinking over the dangers of his situation that he did not notice that he was bare-headed, and that the rain was running down his back in little streams. "O, I know that I shall go to the bottom in less than five minutes!" cried Tom, involuntarily catching his breath, as the Storm King careened wildly under a fierce gust of wind. "Then what will become of those fellows below deck? I am going to start for the cabin, and, if I live to get there, I'll let them all out. I know Harry Green can manage the vessel."
As Tom spoke, he let go of the rail and staggered toward the companion-way. Just as he placed his foot upon the first step of the ladder, he lost his balance, and pitched headlong into the cabin. He was much more frightened than hurt by the fall, for he firmly believed that the yacht had capsized, and that, in an instant more, he would find the cabin flooded with water. But nothing of the sort happened. The reckless Xury still kept the Storm King well under control, and, thus far, by some unaccountable fortune, he had succeeded in keeping her clear of the vessels at the wharves. Tom clung to the companion-ladder a moment or two, to make sure that the yacht was still right side up, and that his absence from the deck had not been discovered, and then prepared to carry out his new idea.