sheet
of lightning, not a flash, that lit up the whole sky.

"Look sharp and batten down the hatches, the rain is close on the heels
of that, I know," cried the captain; but the men had hardly time to
execute his order ere the heavens seemed to open and a deluge of water
fell on to the ship, as if some reservoir above had suddenly burst. It
literally swept down like a cataract, and almost beat me down to the
deck with its force.

It hardly lasted a minute, but in that brief spell it filled the
scuppers just as if we had shipped a heavy sea, of course wetting us all
to the skin.

Next there was heard the same moaning noise along the surface of the
ocean that we had heard at first, and then, as the rain stopped, a
terrific gust of wind from the south-east caught us just abaft the beam,
the ship heeled over until her yard-arms dipped, and we thought she was
going to "turn turtle," or capsize.

"Hard up with the helm!" screamed out Captain Miles, Mr Marline jumping
to the spokes of the wheel at the same time to help the man steering,
when, fortunately, the _Josephine_ payed off handsomely, righting again
at the same moment, to our great relief.

"Brace up the yards!" then shouted the captain; and, in another instant,
the vessel was dashing along madly towards the north-west, scudding
before the rapidly risen gale, even with the little canvas she carried,
at a greater rate of speed than she had ever attained with every sail
set. She was going twelve knots, good, and increasing her velocity
apparently each moment, the sea not yet having had time to get up and
nothing interfering with her progress through the water, although the
wind shrieked and howled destruction after her as it urged her along.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

THE TAIL-END OF A HURRICANE.

Immediately the sudden blast of wind struck the ship, the meteor-like
ball of fire, which had previously hovered about our rigging lighting up
the dense gloom of the atmosphere, suddenly disappeared, leaving us for
a moment in darkness; but this was only for a brief spell, as the gale--
at the same time that it forced us to cut and run before its tremendous
impulse, scudding away to the north-west at right angles to what should
have been our proper course, which was to the northwards and eastwards--
dispelled in a very short time the overhanging mass of vapour that
shrouded the sky. The clouds cleared away, as if by magic, disclosing
the blue vault of heaven open above