He seemed all impatience and expectation; standing at arm's
length from the spokes, with one foot advanced, and his bare head
thrust forward. Where I was, the watch were out of sight; and no one
else was stirring; the deserted decks and broad white sails were
gleaming in the moonlight.
Presently, a swelling, dashing sound came upon my ear, and I had a
sort of vague consciousness that I had been hearing it before. The
next instant I was broad awake and on my feet. Eight ahead, and so
near that my heart stood still, was a long line of breakers, heaving
and frothing. It was the coral reef girdling the island. Behind it,
and almost casting their shadows upon the deck, were the sleeping
mountains, about whose hazy peaks the gray dawn was just breaking.
The breeze had freshened, and with a steady, gliding motion, we were
running straight for the reef.
All was taken in at a glance; the fell purpose of Bembo was obvious,
and with a frenzied shout to wake the watch, I rushed aft. They
sprang to their feet bewildered; and after a short, but desperate
scuffle, we tore him from the helm. In wrestling with him, the wheel
- left for a moment unguarded - flew to leeward, thus, fortunately,
bringing the ship's head to the wind, and so retarding her progress.
Previous to this, she had been kept three or four points free, so as
to close with the breakers. Her headway now shortened, I steadied the
helm, keeping the sails just lifting, while we glided obliquely
toward the land. To have run off before the wind - an easy
thing - would have been almost instant destruction, owing to a curve of
the reef in that direction. At this time, the Dane and the steward
were still struggling with the furious Mowree, and the others were
running about irresolute and shouting.
But darting forward the instant I had the helm, the old cook thundered
on the forecastle with a handspike, "Breakers! breakers close
aboard! - 'bout ship! 'bout ship!"
Up came the sailors, staring about them in stupid horror.
"Haul back the head-yards!" "Let go the lee fore-brace!" "Beady about!
about!" were now shouted on all sides; while distracted by a thousand
orders, they ran hither and thither, fairly panic-stricken.
It seemed all over with us; and I was just upon the point of throwing
the ship full into the wind (a step, which, saving us for the
instant, would have sealed our fate in the end), when a sharp cry
shot by my ear like the flight of an arrow.
It was Salem:
