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Updated: May 18, 2025
"Stand by with belts!" bellowed Rogers. Rapidly life belts were unlashed; and, ahead, to port, to starboard, brine-stung eyes glared out from the reeling craft. Gray in the nascent dawn stretched the tossing sea about them; and lonely they rode upon its billows. "PORT! PORT! HARD A-PORT!" screamed the lookout.
"Where?" demanded Captain Raleigh. "Right here, forward, sir," replied Jack. Captain Raleigh gave a quick command to his first officer, who passed it to the man at the wheel. "Hard a-port!" he cried. The ship veered crazily; and at the some moment, Frank, who was standing where Jack had been a moment before, heard something swish past. "Another bomb, sir!" he reported.
I know what brought me to was hearing the Boston boat's three sharp toots as she picked up the light mad as anything and swung her helm a-port. I turned away from her, sweat stringing down my face, and walked around to the door. It was just as well, too, for the feed-pipe was plugged in the lamp and the wicks were popping. She'd have been out in another five minutes, sir.
The fisherman made this statement so roundly, that I could not have the heart to tell him how incredulous I was; but, when I got on board the yacht, I repeated the circumstance, as a jest, to the sailor who stood at the gangway to receive me. "Well, your Honour," replied the man, after listening with attention to my narrative, "he arn't put his helm too hard a-port." "What!"
When the enemy was ranging alongside, Barney cried out, "Hard a-port." The helmsman clapt his helm the other way, and the enemy's jib-boom caught in the fore rigging, and held her in a position to be raked, and never was the operation of raking more suddenly or effectually performed.
Every sail was lowered to the deck, the helm was put hard a-port, and the gust came upon us with terrible fury. The rain fell in torrents, the lightning kept the atmosphere in a constant state of illumination, and the peals of thunder were truly appalling!
"Hard a-port your helm! Look out for that foresheet." As the schooner fell off and again came gradually to the wind, she shot across the hawse of the waterspout, which swept closely along under our stern, almost spattering the water in our very faces, and tearing and roaring like the cataract of Niagara!
You may depend upon it, the captain will think better about this arrest of yours, particularly as the two men at the wheel positively contradict the quarter-master, and affirm that the helm was put hard a-starboard, and not hard a-port. It appears to us that it was of little consequence, when the ship was first discovered, how the helm was put.
Scarcely had he spoken when a deep, sullen roar, easily distinguished by a seaman amid the howling of the tempest, struck on the ears of the crew. "Breakers! breakers ahead!" they shouted. "Port the helm hard a-port!" cried a deep voice. It was that of the old pilot. The sound of the breakers had reached his ears even below, and roused him up. The order came too late.
But Peggy shrieked and struggled, thus preventing the poor fellow from attempting a rescue, while shouts and cries of "man overboard" rang through the ship from stem to stern, until it became known that it was a woman. Then the cries redoubled. In the midst of the hubbub the strong but calm voice of the captain was heard to give orders to lower a boat and port the helm "hard a-port."
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