“Dunno yet,� snapped Uncle Toby, “consarn that thar wind, it’s coming frum every which way at once. Reg’lar Irishman’s hurricane.�
A fearful stench, sulphurous and choking, enveloped them with the cloud of noxious vapors. They coughed and choked as if they were being suffocated.
“Oh-oh, this is terrible,� wheezed Mr. Terrill, “oh, dear! oh, dear, are we all going to die? Ugh! ugh! I wish I’d never come on this trip.�
“Don’t talk so much and waste your breath, and you’ll feel better,� advised Jack.
Even in his misery and fright, Terrill shot the boy a malevolent look, but he said nothing.
A rushing, roaring sound was heard, as the Morning Star suddenly rushed forward once more as the breeze chopped round, mercifully blowing the suffocating fumes the other way. But the spray that flew over her bows was boiling hot. The men forward were forced to retreat aft.
For one terrible instant it looked as if the little craft must be driven into the midst of the inferno of smoke and steam and stench before she could be put on another tack, but in the next moment a cheer broke from all hands as she shot forward, and left the strange disturbance behind her.
“Phew! I couldn’t have stood much more of that,� said Jack. “Are such things common in the northern seas, Uncle Toby?�
“No, lad, they’re not. But once in a while a whaling master will report encountering one. They’re some of the queer things that them as goes down to the sea in ships, as the good book says, gets a chance to see. There, look!�
He pointed behind them. The boys followed the direction of his gaze. They saw the boiling mass of mud subside as suddenly as it had come, making great swells that came chasing after the Morning Star, making her plunge and dance on their crests.