CHAPTER XXII
IN THE GRIP OF MIGHTY SEAS
The captain quickly furled the jibs, then took a reef in the mainsail.Consulting the skies again, he decided to leave one of the jibs up, soset it once more and took another reef in the mainsail, thusshortening the latter considerably.
The "Sister Sue" was now making no headway at all, but was rollingdizzily from wave to wave, now and then a swell striking the side ofthe little boat and tumbling torrents of green water over into thecockpit. The girls were set to work bailing. They already were soakedto the skin, though, instead of being disturbed, they were laughingjoyously, thinking it great fun. Their attention was called to aschool of porpoises that came leaping toward them, appearing at firstlike miniature geysers springing out of the oily green seas. Theporpoises divided, passing on either side of the sloop and closeaboard, racing on toward the land that lay off yonder somewhere in thegreen distance.
It was now impossible to stand without holding fast to something thatwould not give. Harriet had never seen a boat roll so fast. From sideto side it lurched, plunging at the same time, both with almostincredible speed. Her own head was beginning to spin. Tommy's face waspale.
"You're getting seasick," smiled Harriet, eyeing her friend sharply.
"No, I'm not," protested the little girl "You're getting thickyourthelf."
"I confess to being dizzy," admitted Harriet, "but I am not so illthat I must go to bed. Keep outside. You will be much better off thanin the cabin, where the air is close and the others are suffering."
"I'm going to, thank you." Tommy stood braced against the cabin, herkeen little eyes observing the now serious face of the skipper. "Igueth thomething ith going to happen," she observed.
"Don't tell the others," cautioned Harriet, with a warning shake ofthe head.
"I don't intend to. What ith it, a thtorm?"
Harriet nodded.
"I knew it. I jutht knew thomething wath going to break loothe."
The purple haze was nearing at a rapid rate of speed, and HarrietBurrell saw that with it the sea was piling up, its white crests angryand menacing.
"Try to keep the wind dead astern," ordered the skipper. "I willhandle the sheets. Do you think you can manage it?"
"Yes, sir. I will be on the lookout for orders. You may depend uponme, sir."
"Then we'll weather it, but we shall get pretty wet, and night iscoming on, too. We're going to have a merry night of it! All hands whodo not wish to get a ducking go below," shouted the skipper.
Miss Elting, Jane, Harriet and Tommy remained outside. The captaintossed a rope to each, directing them to tie the ropes about theirwaists, making the lines fast to a cleat on the after end of theraised deck cabin.
"Just for safety's sake," he nodded.
The wind was beginning to whistle through the rigging, the water tofoam under the bows of the "Sister Sue," showing that she was gettingunder good headway.
"Port one point," bellowed the skipper. Harriet instantly obeyed thecommand. Then the gale was upon them with a screech and a roar. Avolume of water that threatened to swamp them rolled toward the stern,but before it had done so Harriet, acting upon a sharply utteredcommand, had swung the sloop about until its nose met the oncomingrush of wind and water. She gasped for breath as the flood of saltwater enveloped her; yet, bracing her feet, clung firmly to thewheel, holding the craft on the new course. Afterward Harriet had afaint recollection of having seen her companions swimming on the greensea in the little cockpit, Tommy's pale face standing out moreprominently than all the rest.
"We made it," roared the skipper. "Now hold her steady, and she willride it out like a duck." He grabbed up a pail and began bailing withall his might. Jane did likewise, then Miss Elting lent herassistance. Tommy was clinging to the cabin roof with all her might.
Before the storm struck them they had not thought to light theirmasthead and side lights. Now it was next to impossible to do so. Thesloop was rushing through the seas without a light to mark herpresence on the sea that was growing more wild with the moments. Butthe binnacle light was burning steadily over the compass, so that thehelmswoman was able to see in which direction they were heading. Thecompass told her that, instead of making headway toward land, theywere rushing along at a frightful rate of speed toward Europe. Still,she realized that this was the only safe course to follow.
All at once Harriet Burrell uttered a sharp cry of alarm. She threwthe wheel over so suddenly that a wave smashing against the side ofthe sloop nearly turned them turtle. Captain Billy, with quickinstinct, let go the mainsail, which swung out far to leeward, thussaving the little craft from being upset. Up to this moment he did notknow what the sudden shifting meant, but just as he was about tobellow to the helmswoman he caught sight of a towering mass of lightsthat for the moment seemed to hang over them, then flashed on, missingthe "Sue" by a few scant rods of water. They had had a narrow escapefrom being run down by a steamer. But for Harriet's quickness, nothingcould have saved them. It was plain that those on the bridge of thesteamer had not discovered the small boat in the sea under their bows,for they did not even hail.
"Good work," bellowed the skipper.
"I thought we'd got to Europe," shouted Tommy.
"Lay her to. I've got to close reef that sail," commanded the captain.
Harriet pointed the bow right into the teeth of the wind. Oh, how thatlittle craft did plunge! At times it seemed as if the greater part ofher length were wholly out of water, that she had taken a long,quivering leap from the crest of one great wave to another. So hardwas she pitching that she had little time left in which to roll. Saltspray rained down over the decks until the cabin itself was almostwholly hidden from the view of the girl at the wheel. In the meantimethe captain had reefed the mainsail down to the last row.
"Now let her off a few points," he directed.
Boom!
"Oh, what was that?" cried Miss Elting, her voice barely heard in theshriek of the gale. "What happened?"
"Jib gone by the board," shouted the captain. "Lucky if we don't losethe mainsail the same way."
Harriet had not uttered a sound when the startling report had boomedout above the roar of the storm, but her heart had seemed to leap intoher throat. Her arms had grown numb under the strain of holding thewheel, for the sea was hurling its tremendous force against the craft,requiring great effort on the part of the helmswoman to keep the boaton its course. But she clung doggedly to her chosen task, seeking topierce the darkness ahead with her gaze. The salt water made her eyessmart so that she could scarcely see at all. Yet she could feel thewind on her face, and by that guide alone she was enabled to keep the"Sue" headed into the storm. She long since had ceased trying to keepthe boat on a compass course, for the greater part of the time thecompass card was invisible either through the spray or solid water,as the case might be.
It was marvelous how the little boat stood up under the bombardment ofthe Atlantic rollers and the mountains of water that hurled themselvesupon her. Harriet was standing in water up to her knees, but,fortunately, every time the boat rolled or plunged, a volume of saltwater was hurled out into the sea itself.
In the cabin everything movable was afloat. The passengers in therewere nearly drowned at times, but in their fright most of them hadforgotten their seasickness. They were clinging to the seats in mostinstances, screaming with fear. Miss Elting, deciding that herpresence was needed in the cabin rather than outside, plunged into thedark hole head-first. Quickly gathering herself together, she did herbest to calm and comfort the girls, though every plunge of the boatshe expected would be its last. It did not seem possible that thelittle craft could weather the gale.
Suddenly there came a mighty crash above their heads, followed by aripping, tearing sound, and above it all sounded the screams of thegirls who were fighting their great battle out there in the cockpit ofthe "Sister Sue."
The girls in the cabin threw themselves into one another's arms,screaming wildly.
"Stop
it!" shouted Miss Elting. "Be brave, girls. Remember, you areCamp Girls!"
The cabin doors burst in and a great green wave hurled them the lengthof the cabin, crushing them against the bulkhead at the far end, theguardian clinging, gasping, nearly drowned, to a rail above thedoorway.
The Meadow-Brook Girls by the Sea; Or, The Loss of The Lonesome Bar Page 22