"Hard a'port!" Ned heard Kenworth roar.
It was precisely the command that, under the circumstances, would bring the bow of the Seneca grating and rasping on the shoal.
"Hard over! Hard over! For your life, man!" shouted Ned.
"Aye, aye, sir!" cried the man, recognizing the superior authority of the temporary commander.
But it was too late. The next instant it happened, even as Ned's hand jerked the engine-room telegraph over to "Full speed astern." With a grating, jarring succession of bumps, the Seneca, Ned's first command, slipped upon the shoal, even while her reversed engines were frantically biting the water astern.
Before the lad's eyes arose a sickening vision of failure and disgrace, even at the very outset of his important commission.
[CHAPTER IX.]
"YOUR DUTY IS TO OBEY!"