“We do not wish to have a dispute with you, Mr Betts, though we have a perfect right to take an observation, or to do anything else which does not interfere with the discipline of the ship,” said Tom, as he turned away, feeling that it was better to avoid any dispute with the boatswain.
Tom accordingly signing to his companions, they all left the deck, allowing the boatswain to pace up and down by himself.
Towards evening he sent the steward to them, and told them that he expected all three to keep the middle watch.
“Your men will have the first watch,” he said, “and I would advise you to be on deck directly you are called.”
As there was no reason to object to this they agreed to do as the boatswain wished. They accordingly turned in for the first part of the night. They had been asleep some time when a fearful crash was heard. They, all three being awake, quickly slipped into their clothes.
“I knew it would be so,” exclaimed the doctor, whom they met in the cabin; “we shall none of us see another sunrise.”
“I hope things won’t be so bad as that,” said Tom; “the ship seems to be moving forward; perhaps she has merely touched a coral reef and has scraped clear. We will go on deck and ascertain how matters stand.”
The cries and shouts which reached the cabin showed that something serious had happened. Scarcely had Tom and his companions gained the deck, than again the ship struck with greater force than before, every timber quivering from stem to stern. The foremast went by the board, carrying with it the main-topmast, when a sea striking the ship swept over her. The wild shrieks for help which followed showed that some of the crew had been borne away.
“Can you see land?” asked Desmond of Tom.
“No; we are on a coral reef, and our chances of escape are very small.”