The baggage horses and ammunition were in a
smaller vessel.
The orders were that they were to land at Wolgast on the southern
shore of the Baltic. Scarcely had they set sail than the weather
changed, and a sudden tempest burst upon them. Higher and higher
grew the wind, and the vessels were separated in the night. The
Lillynichol laboured heavily in the waves, and the discomfort of the
troops, crowded together between decks, was very great. Presently
it was discovered that she had made a leak, and that the water was
entering fast. Munro at once called forty-eight soldiers to the
pumps. They were relieved every quarter of an hour, and by dint of
the greatest exertions barely succeeded in keeping down the water.
So heavily did the vessel labour that Munro bore away for Dantzig;
but when night came on the storm increased in fury. They were now
in shoal water, and the vessel, already half waterlogged, became
quite unmanageable in the furious waves. Beyond the fact that they
were fast driving on to the Pomeranian coast, they were ignorant
of their position.
"This is a rough beginning," Nigel said to his nephew. "We
bargained to run the risk of being killed by the Germans, but we
did not expect to run the hazard of being drowned. I doubt if the
vessel can live till morning. It is only eleven o'clock yet, and
in spite of the pumps she is getting lower and lower in the water.
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