to the wind, getting
on to an almost even keel as she did so.

"Break out the jib and haul in the weather sheet," the captain
shouted.

Purvis was expecting this, and although he did not hear the words
above the howl of the storm, at once obeyed the order.

"There she is, sir, lying-to like a duck," the skipper shouted in
Frank's ear; "and none the worse for it. An ordinary craft would
have turned turtle, but I have seen her as far over when she has
been racing."

"Well, I will go below now, Hawkins," Frank shouted back. "It is
enough to blow the hair off one's head.

"Come down, George, with me. You can be of no use here."

Chapter 14.

For eight hours the Osprey struggled with the storm. The sea swept
over her decks, and the dinghy was smashed into fragments, but the
yacht rode with far greater ease than an ordinary vessel would have
done, as, save for her bare mast, the wind had no hold upon her.
There were no spars with weight of furled sails to catch the wind
and hold her down; she was in perfect trim, and her sharp bows met
the waves like a wedge, and suffered them to glide past her with
scarce a shock, while the added buoyancy gained by reefing the
bowsprit and getting the anchors below lifted her over seas that,
as they approached, seemed as if they would make a clean sweep over
her.

From time to time Frank went up for a few minutes, lashing himself
to the runner to windward. The three men at the helm were all
sitting up, lashed to cleats, and sheltering themselves as far as
they could by the bulwarks. Movement toward them was impossible.
Beyond a wave of the hand, no communication could be held.

Frank could not have ventured out had he not, before going down
below for the first time, stretched a rope across the deck in front
of the companion, so that before going out he obtained a firm grasp
of it, and was by its assistance able to reach the side safely.
Each time he went out four of the crew from below followed him and
relieved those lashed to the shrouds forward.

The skipper was carrying out the plan he had decided on, and the
foresail was hoisted a few feet, the Osprey by its aid gradually
edging her way out from the centre of the tornado. The hands as
they came down received a stiff glass of grog, and were told to
turn in at once. Two hours after the storm broke Purvis came down
for a few minutes.

"She is doing splendidly, sir," he said. "I would not have believed
if I had not seen