Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: May 16, 2025
At that instant a red glare flashed up from the derelict. It shone on her maintopsail and staysails and lit up the ocean around her. "Faith, but she's afire," cried Chips. "Look at them." I turned the boat's head around and ran her off before the wind, hauling up again and standing for the wreck to get near her. Miss Sackett seized my arm and held it fast. "Don't go back for them!" she cried.
Just then the helm was put down, and we saw some of them with blows and threats urging the drunken crew to take in the headsails, leaving the maintopsail only to steady the ship. In the operation, however, carelessly performed, the sails were blown to ribbons, and the ship drifted away to leeward of us. She had before this evidently suffered severely.
A block, followed by a shower of splinters, came hurtling down on deck, breaking the arm of a man at the aftermost quarter-deck gun on the port side, and then a louder crash aloft caused me to look up just in time to see our mizzen-topmast go sweeping forward into the hollow of the maintopsail, which it split from head to foot, the mizzen-topgallant mast snapping short off at the cap as it swooped down upon the maintopsail yard.
"Stand by!" there was a note of preparation in the words in spite of Seymour's effort to give them the ordinary intonation of a commonplace order, a note which had so much meaning to Katharine's sensitive ear that her heart stopped its beating for a moment as she waited for the next word. It came with a roar of defiance. "Back the maintopsail!"
The ship chanced to be under full canvas at the time, and the maintopsail, swollen out by the fresh breeze, had caught me on its convex side as I came down. From this I had bounded off again, but the impetus of the fall had been thus lessened; and the second pitch into the sea was not so violent as it would otherwise have been.
I know her by the cut of her canvas." Weak as all on board the raft at this time were, they raised a shout such as Englishmen only know how to give. They listened eagerly. Directly afterwards a cheer came in answer towards them. The rattling of blocks was heard, and the brig's helm being put down, and her maintopsail backed, she came up into the wind. In another instant they were alongside.
Hour by hour through the short and gloomy day, sail after sail has gone fluttering in; till now, at night-fall, she reels and rolls before the storm under a single close reefed maintopsail.
By dint of falling twice over the trunk, kneeling upon my heels, sitting on my elbows, and executing several other equally impracticable feats, I got my vest on inside out, both feet in the wrong boots respectively, and staggered up the companionway on deck. The wind was still blowing a gale, and we showed no canvas but one close-reefed maintopsail.
No one moved no one spoke the howling of the gale and the dashing of the waters were the only sounds heard. Suddenly all were aroused into activity by the deep full tones of the captain's voice. "About ship!" "Down with the helm!" "Helm's a-lee!" "Maintopsail haul!" "Haul-of-all!" were the orders given in slow succession.
It had been my intention to sail into the latitude of the Azores, and then to return to Rio de Janeiro; but strong gales coming on we made the unpleasant discovery that the frigate's maintopmast was sprung, and when putting her about, the main and maintopsail yards were discovered to be unserviceable.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking