Jack ransacked several nooks in the cabin and brought to view several old coats made of tarpaulin cloth. In these, as a protection against the rain and waves, the trio encased themselves.
Then the boatswain tied a strong rope around his waist and bade his fellow-companions in peril do the same.
He climbed to the deck, the boys following him. It was well that he took the precautions he did, for the first wave swept Will and Tom off their feet.
Jack clung to the wheel, toward which he with difficulty made his way.
His companions crouched at his feet, awed and frightened at the wildness of the storm.
“The boat may weather the storm yet, leaking as she is,” remarked Jack.
“Then we must trust to the small boat those scoundrels have left behind. Hold fast, lads. A light!”
Old Jack strained his vision to pierce the darkness.
“I certainly saw a light,” he repeated, anxiously; “there it is ahead, directly in our course, and bearing down on us.”
“It is probably a ship in distress, like ourselves. It’s coming nearer, and our lantern is swept out. Steady, lads, for a crash is coming.”
One single speck of light relieved the gloom of the scene. The excited boys could make it out coming nearer and nearer.
It shadowed out dimly the outlines of a large ship, and then----
A crash that sent a shock through their frames sounded above the frightful roar of the tempest.
The timbers started beneath their feet; Jack’s hold was torn from the wheel, and the trio were flung indiscriminately across the deck.
The ship that had collided with them had passed on or sunk, they knew not which. Their own desperate situation called for immediate action.
“We’re sinking, lads. It’s the boat, now, or certain death by drowning.”
But the boat had been swept away. Old Jack uttered a cry of dismay.
The water was up to their waists now, and various movable objects were floating about as if on the surface of the sea itself.
“Cling to this, lads,” shouted Jack, as a wooden grating that had been near the forecastle drifted before them.
They obeyed him just in time, for a gigantic wave enveloped the deck and swept the ship from beneath them.
Clinging to the grating they were flung upon the boiling waters about them.
“She’s gone down,” they heard Jack’s voice say. “It is a matter of endurance now.”