Jack ran down the ratlines of the rigging as fast as he could now that his duty aloft was done. Unfortunately, at this moment the heavy wet main-sheet was dragged upwards by the straining of the sail, and struck against Jack's feet with such violence as to make him lose his hold of the rigging. In an instant he was flung upwards and then hurled overboard into the midst of the foaming waves. Lifebuoys were thrown overboard, the ship was hove-to, and a boat was sent away; but by this time Jack had been lost to sight in the driving mist. When last seen he was swimming rather feebly as if dazed by his fall from aloft. The coxswain of the cutter searched in vain for the missing boy. No trace of him could be found. The wind howled in fitful gusts, and the fog grew thicker and thicker. It was impossible to see more than a few feet from the boat, but the coxswain shouted again and again in his loudest tones in the hope of being heard by Jack. Very gloomy did the seamen look when no answer came to these repeated cries. The storm was now very violent, and the cutter was in danger. The "Forte" was of course out of sight, but she now began firing signal-guns. "The skipper might save his powder," said the coxswain anxiously, "for we can't fetch the old hooker in this lumpy sea. Lay in your oars, lads, step the mast, and set a close-reefed sail. I reckon it's our only chance to escape being swamped." "And the poor young gentleman," said one of the men, with a sigh; "I'm afraid we'll never see him this side of eternity again." "It'll break his mother's heart," remarked the coxswain huskily; "but we've our duty to do, mates, and if the Lord calls him we mustn't complain, He being our Commander-in-Chief, so to speak." The boat under her rag of a sail flew before the wind. The "Forte" continued to fire guns at intervals, but it was impossible to pay attention to them, and soon the sound died away altogether. For hours the cutter held on her way, the coxswain not daring to alter course for fear the boat should be swamped. Suddenly the fog lifted and began to roll away over the ocean. At the same moment the gale began to abate in violence and the sea to go down. In eastern climes a sudden storm quickly expends its force. The cutter's crew gave a shout of joy. Away over the crests of the still agitated sea they perceived the misty outlines of their ocean home, H.M.S. "Forte." She was apparently standing down in their direction. "Here's a piece of good luck," exclaimed the coxswain; "that's the old hooker, as sure as guns are guns, and, what's more, the wind has veered to the westward, and we can run down and jine company with her in the shake of a pig's whisker." It was the work of a few moments to alter course and shake a reef out of the foresail. [Illustration: (Cutter and crew)]