“I was shipwrecked, years ago, a blamed sight worse than you were to-night,” he said, turning to one of the spongers.
“Yes, sir, twice as bad,” continued the captain. “Say, Lem, quit your snoring!”
“Go on, don’t mind me!” was the reply.
“Well, boys,” the keeper began willingly, “I’ll tell you about one wreck. When I was a young fellow, ’bout twenty, I belonged to an old-fashioned brig, Nancy, commanded by one of the toughest nuts I ever had the luck to know. His name was Lowes, and he was a regular slave-driver,—but a good seaman, though. Give the devil his due, say I! We were fishing and cruising around the Bahamas, under a lively breeze, and one night—I never knew how it happened—we got blown ’way off our course.
“As the night came on, the breeze increased to a reg’lar Atlantic gale,” Bowling continued, puffing at his pipe. “Rain fell in sheets and torrents, the thunder was loud enough to crack your ears, and flashes of lightning nearly gave us all blind-staggers. Sometimes it all was bright as daylight, then dark as a pocket, pitchy dark. Suddenly the lookout gave a yell: ‘Breakers ahead!’
“‘Put the helm a-lee!’ shouted the watch.
“But before the order could be obeyed, we felt a shock that lifted her bow clear out of water, it seemed, and we knew she’d struck a reef. My stars! how the sea did swat poor Nancy, banging her down on those rocks! I tell you, boys, there was a wild scramble for the boats!
“Old Lowes, he was shouting curses and orders, trying to keep up some show of discipline. The for’ard mast fell over the side nearer the reef, just as the bo’s’n and nine other hands got one boat launched.
“I happened to be in it. As soon as we got clear of the rocks we lay on our oars, waiting to pick up any men that jumped overboard. We urged them on, but they were all busy with the last two boats. They got one of them launched, and then they pulled away toward a rock some little distance from us. It was a big rock, kind of flat, but they never reached it.
“We rowed out to that rock and then a loud crash told us the brig had gone to pieces. We heard sounds like thunder, as the timbers and planks were dashed upon the reef,—then a yell, a frantic shout.