This course was a
mistaken one; we had not sailed far on it when a sudden rise of the
canoe, followed by an unusually long run down on the slope of a roller,
told us of a danger that we hardly dared to think of, then a mighty
comber broke, but, as Providence willed, broke short of the canoe, which
under shortened sail was then scudding very fast.
We were on a shoal, and the sea was breaking from the bottom! The second
great roller came on, towering up, up, up, until nothing longer could
support the mountain of water, and it seemed only to pause before its
fall to take aim and surely gather us up in its sweeping fury.
I put the helm a-lee; there was nothing else to do but this, and say
prayers. The helm hard down, brought the canoe round, bows to the
danger, while in breathless anxiety we prepared to meet the result as
best we could. Before we could say "Save us, or we perish," the sea
broke over with terrific force and passed on, leaving us trembling in
His hand, more palpably helpless than ever before. Other great waves
came madly on, leaping toward destruction; how they bellowed over the
shoal! I could smell the slimy bottom of the sea, when they broke! I
could taste the salty sand!
In this perilous situation, buried sometimes in the foaming breakers,
and at times tossed like a reed on the crest of the waves, we struggled
with might and main at the helm and the sheets, easing her up or forcing
her ahead with care, gaining little by little toward deep water, till at
last she came out of the danger, shook her feathers like a sea-bird, and
rode on waves less perilous.
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