Part 19 (1/2)

Brandon then clambered out on deck The shi+p lay far over The waves caes All around the sea was glistening with phosphorescent lustre, and when at tihted up the scene, and showed the ocean stirred up to fiercest coh cataracts of water were rushi+ng over the doomed shi+p, which now lay helpless, and at the mercy of the billows The force of the as tre that Brandon had ever witnessed before

What most surprised him noas the inaction of the shi+p's co done? Where was the Captain?

He called out his name; there was no response He called after the mate; there was no answer Instantly he conjectured that in the first fierce onset of the storm both Captain and allant company of brave fellows had perished he knew not

The hour was a perilous and a critical one He hih the midst of the storm, with its tumult and its fury, there came a voice as full and clear as a trumpet-peal, which roused all the sailors, and inspired them once more with hope ”Cut away the ave the order It was the co, and which he kneas the thing that should be done At once they sprang to their work The main-mast had already been cut loose Some went to the fore-mast, others to the uarded as best they could against the rush of each wave, and then sprang in the intervals to their work It was perilous in the highest degree, but each man felt that his own life and the lives of all the others depended upon the accomplishment of this work, and this nerved the arm of each to the task

At last it was done The last strand of rigging had been cut away The shi+p, disencuht

But her situation was still dangerous She lay in the trough of the sea, and the gigantic waves, as they rolled up, still beat upon her with all their concentrated energies Helpless, and now altogether at the mercy of the waves, the only hope left those on board lay in the strength of the shi+p herself

None of the officers were left As the shi+p righted Brandon thought that soht make their appearance, but none caone Perhaps all of them, as they stood on the quarter-deck, had been swept away si could now be done but to wait Morning at last caht no hope Far and wide the sea raged with all its waves The wind bleith undiminished and irresistible violence The shi+p, still in the trough of the sea, heaved and plunged in the overwhel waves, which howled er for their prey The as too fierce to per a jury-mast

The shi+p was also deeply laden, and this contributed to her peril Had her cargo been so, added to her dangerous position as she lay at the mercy of the waves, ht succeeded It was a night of equal horror The n of abatement in the storm, but none came Sea and sky frowned over them darkly, and all the pohich they controlled were let loose unrestrained

Another day and night came and went Had not the _Falcon_ been a shi+p of unusual strength she would have yielded before this to the stor way to the tre to which she had been exposed, and her heavy Australian cargo bore her down On theof the third day Brandon saw that she was deeper in the water, and suspected a leak He ordered the pumps to be sounded It was as he feared There were four feet of water in the hold

The men went to work at the pumps and worked by relays Amidst the rush of the waves over the shi+p it was difficult to work advantageously, but they toiled on Still, in spite of their efforts, the leak seemed to have increased, for the water did not lessen With their utmost exertion they could do little more than hold their own

It was plain that this sort of thing could not last Already three nights and three days of incessant toil and anxiety, in which no one had slept, had produced their natural effects The men had become faint and weary But the brave fellows neverwhich Brandon ordered, and worked uncoh the third day, they labored on, and into the fourth night

That night the storm seemed to have reached its climax, if, indeed, any climax could be found to a storm which at the very outset had burst upon the suddenness and fury, and had sustained itself all along with such unreht it orse for those on board, since the shi+p which had resisted so long began to exhibit signs of yielding, her planks and tih the gaping seams the ocean waters per in direct assault, began to succeed by opening secret ed shi+p

On the ht-long work, and there were ten feet of water in the hold

It now becaan to take measures for the safety of the men

On that memorable day of the calm previous to the outbreak of the storm, the Captain had told Brandon that they were about five hundred ambia He could not form any idea of the distance which the shi+p had drifted during the progress of the storress she had made had been toward the land Their prospects in that direction, if they could only reach it, were not hopeless Sierra Leone and Liberia were there; and if they struck the coast any where about they ht make their way to either of those places

But the question was how to get there There was only one way, and that was by taking to the boats This was a desperate undertaking, but it was the only way of escape now left

There were three boats on board--viz, the long-boat, the cutter, and the gig These were the only hope now left the in these there would be a chance of escape

On theof the fourth day, when it was found that the water was increasing, Brandon called the ether and stated this to them He then told them that it would be necessary to divide theo in each boat He offered to give up to the for hi lady

To this the ed hie with him; but Brandon declined

They then prepared for their desperate venture All the provisions and water that could be needed were put on board of each boat Firear and arduous voyage The ained on the these important preparations

About mid-day all was ready Fifteen feet of water were in the hold The shi+p could not last er There was no time to lose

But how could the boats be put out? How could they live in such a sea?

This was the question to be decided

The shi+p lay as before in the trough of the sea On the ard side the waves ca over her On the leeward the water was calrily even there