A quarter of an hour of anxious waiting followed. Suddenly the liner seemed to wake up. Inexplicably, she increased speed and steamed away. By that time the distance between us had decreased to half a mile. If every one on board, including the officers of the watch, had not been asleep, they must have seen us. The British boasted of the watchfulness of their fleet; I cannot help thinking that at the time of our break-through it must have been hibernating. FOOTNOTES: [5] Light to moderate breeze. [6] Force 4, _i.e._ moderate breeze. [7] 'Strong breeze' on the Beaufort scale, which does not recognise the 'half-a-gale' of ordinary parlance. [8] 'Gale force.' [9] 'Storm force'; 12 topping the scale with 'Hurricane.' CHAPTER XIII OFF THE ROCKALLS IN A HURRICANE During the night the storm increased in violence. A sea which struck us broadside on laid the Aud on her beam-ends, flung every one on deck into the lee scuppers, and swept away everything movable. Caution suggested lying to. But the date of my rendezvous now gave me only one day's margin, and the storm might last for days. There was nothing for it but to go ahead, and chance the cargo shifting--though the picture of those heavy cases in the half-empty hold breaking adrift and taking charge, was one that did not bear thinking about. To reduce the violence of the continual battering on the vessel's sides, I gave orders to distribute oil upon the water, at the same time turning a couple of points south. This had the effect of reducing the roll and making the combers break before they reached the stern. It was some relief when day at last dawned. At least we could see a short distance ahead, and that was our main need, for we were now heading straight for the Rockalls. Of the one rock which ordinarily rose above the water, hardly anything was likely to be visible in such a sea, and we could only hope to recognise it by the surf, the columns of water shooting up into the air, and the clouds of seagulls which probably circled about it. The weather grew wilder and wilder. Rain and hail showers swept at shorter and shorter intervals over mountainous seas, and made it difficult to see at all. In order to leave nothing to chance, since eight o'clock in the morning I had had men heaving the lead, so that we might know the moment we reached the outer edge of the bank. By dead-reckoning--there had been no possibility of taking an observation for three days past--we ought to sight the rock, bearing east, about two miles away, at about 1 p.m. Allowance had, of course, been made for drift and leeway. 10 a.m.: Nothing to be seen.