o stand; and, to stave off a certain feeling of drowsiness that
was insidiously taking possession of me, I went down on to the main deck
and proceeded to pace to and fro in the waist, satisfied that I might
walk there as long as I pleased without disturbing the rest of my
companions, each of whom occupied a cabin under the poop.

As I thoughtfully walked fore and aft between the main and fore rigging,
instinctively treading lightly in sympathy with the profound silence of
the night, my imagination carried me back to the island, and I was
endeavouring to picture to myself Wilde's rage and disgust upon making
the discovery that the ship had prematurely gone to sea, taking with her
the girl that he had fully determined to marry, when a low sound, like
the muttering of far-distant thunder, awoke me out of my reverie. I
sprang up on the poop and flung a hasty glance around the horizon to see
if I could anywhere catch the glimmer of distant lightning, thinking
that possibly a squall might be brewing. Far away to the northward I
did indeed distinctly see what appeared to be the reflection in the sky
of certain ruddy flashes, but they hardly looked to me like lightning,
or, at all events, like the kind of lightning which I had been
accustomed to see.

Meanwhile the low, muttering sound had not died away, as thunder does;
on the contrary, it was not only continuous but was steadily growing; in
volume with amazing rapidity, proceeding apparently from the direction
of those curious ruddy flashes, which were also growing stronger, even
as I stood staring and wondering what the phenomenon might mean. As the
sound steadily increased so did its resemblance to thunder--or the rapid
firing of heavy guns--become more pronounced, a distinct booming, like
that of frequent heavy explosions, making itself heard in the midst of
the continuous rumble--which seemed to me to be drawing nearer with
frightful rapidity. Then, as I still gazed in perplexity toward the
spot from which this mysterious and terrifying sound seemed to emanate,
I caught the gleam of white water on the northern horizon; and no longer
doubting that a heavy squall--of a character quite unknown to me, and
perhaps peculiar to those waters--was about to burst upon us, I dashed
down the poop ladder and into the cabin, uttered one yell of: "All hands
on deck!" and then dashed out again on to the main deck, springing first
to the main topsail halyards and letting them run, and