The Strange Adventure of James Shervinton, page 79 by Louis Becke
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ery--the king's mania to increase his stock of arms and ammunition being well known.
"Very well," I said to Lucia, "I'm quite as anxious as any one of us to get away. Let us wait, however, till Tully's boat is well down the lagoon."
"Master," said Tepi, "do not delay. See, the wind is falling, and rain--much rain--is close to from the east, and the rain killeth the wind. And this is a heavy boat to move with oars."
He was quite right, for, as Tully had said was likely, the wind was not only falling, but was going round to the eastward. The sooner we got out of Apamama Lagoon the better.
"We'll loose the mainsail then," I said to Niâbon, "and we'll get away. But we won't hoist it yet. We'll up anchor and drift until the rain comes--it will be on us in a quarter of an hour, and Tully won't be able to see anything of us till we are abreast of the passage; and we may get out to sea without any one seeing us at all."
We got the anchor up, and with mainsail and jib all ready for hoisting, let the boat drift, and in another quarter of an hour a dense rain squall came down on us from the eastward with just enough wind in it to send us along at a smart pace as soon as we hoisted our sails. In less than an hour we were pretty close to the passage; for, although we could not see it owing to the rain, we felt the force of the swift current running out, and could hear the subdued roar of the dangerous tide-rips. Tematau was for'ard, holding on to the fore-stay and peering ahead. Suddenly he gave a cry of alarm and shouted to me to luff.
It was too late, for almost at the same time we struck with a crash, and the current, catching the boat's stern, slewed her round broadside on to the reef, where she lay hard and fast, though shaking in every timber as a wall of water, hissing like a boiling cauldron, formed against her starboard side.
Bidding the women sit quite quiet, we let go main and jib halliards and got the sails inboard--no easy task under the circumstances.