The howling of the wind, the rattle of cordage, the groaning of timbers, and the shrieking of the waters when they leaped inboard, as if eager to overwhelm us, was sufficient to terrify all save the stoutest-hearted, and yet, after a time, even before the gale was at its height, Simon and I came to take it all quite calmly. By observing those around us, we could see that there was not even the shadow of a fear in the hearts of any, because all knew full well the strength and staunchness of the ship, and to them the gale was a friendly one, since it carried them more swiftly in the desired direction.
Since Master Josh had taken us under his wing, we were assigned to the same watch with him, and although, where the crew was so large, there was absolutely nothing for boys to do, the old man never allowed us to shirk our duties in this respect.
We were forced to remain on deck, exactly as if the welfare of the ship depended upon our being there, and no exception was made during this first storm.
“You may as well take all that comes to a sailorman’s lot, lads,” Master Josh said, when we were ordered to the spar-deck, on the morning after the storm had burst upon us, while the ship was tumbling, plunging, and pitching at such a rate that the most experienced of the crew were forced to clutch at this thing or that, in order to make their way forward or aft. “If you get in the habit of stayin’ below, just ’cause there happens to be a little breeze, your chances of ever bein’ rated as able seamen will be small.”
We literally clawed our way up on the spar-deck, Simon shouting in my ear, for the din was so great that only by the severest exertions could he make himself heard:
“If this is what Master Josh calls a ‘breeze,’ I hope we may never be afloat in one of his gales.”
Our coming on deck was needless, since no one called upon us for any service, and we would have been unable to perform the slightest task even had it been required.
We took up our stations near the foremast, where we might the better hold ourselves steady, and there remained, knowing full well that we were not adding to our store of knowledge in the slightest degree.