were thrown in confusion to
leeward--the shot rolled out of the lockers, and every eye was fixed
aloft, watching the masts, which were expected every moment to go over
the side. A heavy sea struck us on the broadside, and it was some
moments before the ship appeared to recover herself; she reeled,
trembled, and stopped her way, as if it had stupefied her. The first
lieutenant looked at the captain, as if to say, "This will not do."
"It is our only chance," answered the captain to the appeal. That the
ship went faster through the water, and held a better wind, was
certain; but just before we arrived at the point the gale increased in
force. "If anything starts we are lost, sir," observed the first
lieutenant again.

"I am perfectly well aware of it," replied the captain, in a calm tone;
"but, as I said before, and as you must now be aware, it is our only
chance. The consequence of any carelessness or neglect in the fitting
and securing of the rigging will be felt now; and this danger, if we
escape it, ought to remind us how much we have to answer for if we
neglect our duty. The lives of a whole ship's company may be
sacrificed by the neglect or incompetence of an officer when in harbor.
I will pay you the compliment, Falcon, to say, that I feel convinced
that the masts of the ship are as secure as knowledge and attention can
make them."

The first lieutenant thanked the captain for his good opinion, and
hoped that it would not be the last compliment which he paid him.

"I hope not, too; but a few minutes will decide the point."

The ship was now within two cables' lengths of the rocky point; some
few of the men I observed to clasp their hands, but most of them were
silently taking off their jackets, and kicking off their shoes, that
they might not lose a chance of escape provided the ship struck.

"'Twill be touch and go, indeed, Falcon," observed the captain (for I
had clung to the belaying pins, close to them for the last half-hour
that the mainsail had been set). "Come aft, you and I must take the
helm. We shall want _nerve_ there, and only there, now."

The captain and first lieutenant went aft, and took the fore-spokes of
the wheel, and O'Brien, at a sign made by the captain, laid hold of the
spokes behind him. An old quartermaster kept his station at the
fourth. The roaring of the seas on the rocks, with the howling of the
wind, were dreadful; but the sight was more dreadful than the noise.
For a