It was toward morning of the fifth night after the captain had left the ship that all on board were startled by a mighty thumping, accompanied by a shock that threw the sleepers out of bed.
Harry ran hastily on deck. The mate was there already.
“What’s happened, Mr. Holdfast?” asked the boy, anxiously.
“The ship has struck on a rocky ledge!”
“Are we in danger?”
“In great danger. Call all the passengers. We must take to the boat, for the Nantucket is doomed!”
CHAPTER XIV
THE WRECK OF THE NANTUCKET
It was still quite dark, but it was light enough to see that the ship had struck upon a reef. Straining their eyes, the alarmed passengers could descry land. Indeed, the reef was an outlying part of it.