Part 11 (2/2)
The great sail was obstinate Ease the schooner as Skipper Bill would, it was still hard for his crew of two rasp and confine the canvas Meanti her nose into the frothy waves A cask on the after deck broke its lashi+ngs, pursued acareer fore and aft, and at last went spinning into the sea Skipper Bill devoutly hoped that nothing else would get loose above or below
He cast an apprehensive glance into the darkening cloud of snow ahead
There was no promise to be descried And to leeward the first islands of the Chunks, which had been sighted an hour ago, had disappeared in the night
”Lively with thathis voice above the wind ”We'll reef the fores'l!”
The crew had been intent upon the task in hand Not a man had yet smelled smoke And they continued to wrestle with the obstinate sail, each wishi+ng, heartily enough, to get the dirty-weather job well done, and to return to the comfort of the forecastle It was the cook who first paused to sniff--to sniff again--and to fancy he sust of wind at thatsuspicion in an immediate tussle to reduce the disordered canvas A few minutes more of desperate work and the mainsail was securely reefed; but these were supre which the fate of the _First Venture_ was deter shouted to the skipper
”Get at that fores'l, then!” was the order
With the custooodlads, the crew ran forward
Skipper Bill re into the lee scupper; and that he scrah
It was the last laugh aboard the _First Venture_; for the condition of the schooner was then instantly discovered
”Fire!” screamed Billy Topsail
The _First Venture_ was all ablaze forward
CHAPTER XI
_In Which the ”First Venture” All Ablaze Forward, Is Headed For the Rocks and Breakers of the Chunks, While Bill o' Burnt Bay and His Crew Wait for the Explosion of the Powder in Her Hold In Which, Also, a Rope Is Put to Good Use_
”Fire!”
A cloud of smoke broke froue of red flame flashed upward and expired Skipper Bill did not need the cries of terror and warning to inform him The _First Venture_ was afire! And she was not only afire; she was off the Chunks in a gale of wind and snow
”Aft, here, one o' you!”
When Billy Topsail took the wheel, the skipper plunged into the forecastle It was a desperate intention He was back in aBut in that interval he had made out that the forecastle stove, in some violent lurch of the schooner, had broken loose, and had been bandied about, distributing red coals in every part He had made out, moreover, that the situation of the schooner was infinitely perilous, if not, indeed, quite beyond hope The forecastle was all ablaze In five minutes it would be a furnace
”We're lost!” Ji past
”Not yet,” Archie grienuity; and they worked with all their reat seas, which Skipper Bill, in desperation, deliberately shi+pped, made little impression It was soon evident that the little _First Venture_ was dooht her before the wind, and she was now flying towards the inhospitable Chunks The skipper was less concerned for his schooner than for the lives of his crew The shi+p was already lost; the creell, how _could_ the crew survive the rocks and gigantic breakers of the Chunks?
It was the only hope No s The schooner e But how beach her? It was a dark night, with the snow flying thick Was it possible to sight a black, low-lying rock?