Farther and farther
she went until her lee rail was under water.
The firing instantly ceased, and there were loud shouts on board; then,
as she came up into the wind, the square yards were let fall, and the
crew ran up the ratlines to secure the sails. Simultaneously the
foresail came down, then her head payed off again, and she darted
away like an arrow from the boats.
These, however, had ceased rowing. Frank, as he saw the brigantine
bowing over, had shouted to Purvis to put the boat's head to the
wind, doing the same himself. A few seconds afterwards the squall
struck them with such force that some of the oars were wrenched
from the hands of the men, who were unprepared for the attack.
"Steady, men, steady!" Frank shouted. "It won't last long. Keep on
rowing, so as to hold the boat where you are, till the yacht comes
along. It won't be many minutes before she is here."
In little over a quarter of an hour she was seen approaching, and
Frank saw that, in spite of the efforts of the men at the oars, the
boats had been blown some distance to leeward. However, as soon as
the lanterns were held up the Osprey altered her course, and the
captain, taking her still further to leeward, threw her head up to
the wind until they rowed alongside her.
Pages:
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361