The gale continued all night, but ceased on the following evening without having committed further damage, and from that time till the morning of the tenth we had tolerably fine weather. It then fell a stark calm, but there was an ominous cold-grey silky look in the sky which I did not like. The captain was constantly on deck, anxiously scanning the horizon, and Jonathan Flood, our old master, kept his weather-eye open, as if apprehensive of evil. "Vary fine weather this, Mr Hurry," said Andrew Macallan, our surgeon's mate, who had come to sea for the first time. "Just a wee bit more wind to waft us on our way to the scene of action, and we may well be content." "Wait a bit, doctor, and we shall have wind enough and to spare," replied I. It was not long before my words were verified--though just after that the appearance of coming bad weather wore off, and even the captain and master seemed to think that a moderate breeze was all we had to look for. We were lying with our topsails on the caps and courses hauled up, when, without a moment's warning, a gust of wind with the force of a hurricane laid the ship on her beam-ends. "Up with the helm!" shouted the captain, who had that instant come on deck. "Brace round the foreyards--trice up--brail up the after sails!" The helm was put up, but before the canvas could be handed, with claps like thunder, the main-topmast-staysail and jib were blown from the bolt-ropes, the topsails and courses were flying in shreds from the yards, the topsail sheets, clew-lines and bunt-lines were carried away, as were also the main-clew garnets, bunt-lines and leech-lines, while a more tremendous sea than I had ever before beheld got up as if by magic. The ship, however, happily answered her helm and flew before the gale, which at the same time kept freshening and shifting round to every point of the compass. All we could now do was to scud, and that every instant, as the wind and sea increased, became more and more dangerous. To bring her to under present circumstances was impossible--indeed, deprived of all means of handing the sails, we were helpless; and by this time every one of them was flying aloft in tattered streamers, adding not a little to the impetuous rate at which the gale drove us onward. The seas, each apparently overtopping the other, kept following up astern, and before long one broke aboard us, deluging the decks and sweeping everything before it. "Hold on! hold on for your lives, my men!" shouted the captain as he saw it coming.