The Argosy, Vol. XXIV No. 2 — page 160: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

352 THE MUTINY ON THE FLYING CLOUD. gaged in preparing for the stroke of the hurricane to have a thought to spare for him. Now the rain stops as suddenly as it began, and an awftl silence ensues, scarcely broken even by the lap of the water alongside, for the terrific down- pour has completely beaten down the swell, and, save for an occasional gentle heave, the raft lies motionless. Now stand by! Summon all your nerve and all your courage to your aid, skipper, for you never stood half so sorely in need of them as you do now. Listen! What is that low murmur in the air, which so rapidly increases in volume until it becomes a deep, hoarse, bellowing roar? The sound is broad on your starboard beam, skipper! Aft to your steer- ing oar for your life, man; sweep her head round quick, in readiness to run before it! ‘That is well; round with her again; another stroke. _ Now stand by ! here it comes! Seize that rope’s end and. hold on for your life ! : 3 A long line of milk white foam appears upon the horizon, spreading and advancing with awful rapidity ; the roar swells in volume until it becomes absolutely deafening; the air grows thick with vapor; a sudden whirl of wind rushes past, lashing the skipper’s face with rain drops as it goes—rain drops? No; they are salt, salt as the brine alongside—and then, with a wild burst of hideous sound and a shock as though the raft had collided with something solid, the hurricane strikes her. The white water surges up over her stern, and the captain is hurled | forward, face downward and half stunned, upon her already submerged deck. The occupants of the fort retired to rest that night, as usual, soon after sunset ; and, thoroughly wearied out with the day’s labor, soon sank to sleep. Nobody felt in the least degree anxious about the skipper, because, when Grant and Henderson took a last look at the weather before turning-in, there was nothing particularly alarming in its aspect. They agreed that there was going to be a change, and that it would probably occur before morning; but Blake, they considered, was not the man to be caught napping ; moreover, he had already been absent long enough to make his return possible at any mo- ment; so, with this opinion expressed and understood, all hands sou ht their bunks with perfectly easy minds. Manners and Nicholls were the first to awake, which they did simuita- neously when the hurricane burst over the island, their sleeping room hap- pening to be on the weather side of the fort, or that upon which the gale beat with the greatest fury, and they were therefore naturally the first to be disturbed by the uproar of the storm. ‘“Whew !’’ whistled Manners, as he settled himself more comfortably in his cosy bunk. ‘‘ It’s blowing heavily! I’m glad I have no watch to keep tonight. Listen to that !”’ as the wind went howling and cureering past the house, causing it to tremble to its foundations. ‘‘If it’s like that down here in this sheltered valley, what must it be outside in the open sea?”’ Gomicbooks,. co 3