The Sea-Witch | Page 7

"All hands oil deck!" shouted the mate at the hatch--an order which as
before was perfectly obeyed.
Almost as quickly as the foremast had been stripped of the square rig it
had at first borne, it was once more clothed again with its topsail and
mainsail, and in less than fifteen minutes the "Sea Witch" was under a
cloud of canvass, with studd'nsails out on both sides, while the fore and
aft sails on the main and mizzen were boomed out wing and wing dead
before the wind. The staysails and jibs were hauled down now as
useless, and the vessel flew like a courser. The change of wind had
brought the sea up, and the vessel had a gradual roll, causing the waves
now and then to come gracefully in over the waist, while the extreme
fore and aft parts of the handsome craft were perfectly dry.
"It has set her to waltzing, Mr. Faulkner," said his superior; "but she
improves her speed upon to it, and I think the breeze freshens from this
new quarter."
"Yes, sir. Do you see the long bank of white hereaway to the
south-southwest; it looks like a fog bank, but may be a squall," said the
mate.
"There are few squalls in these latitudes, Mr. Faulkner, and yet I don't
like the looks of the weather in the southern board," said the captain, as
he gazed to windward, with a quick, searching glance.
While he spoke, the wind came fresher and fresher, and now and then a
damp puff and lull, that were too significant tokens for a seaman to
disregard. Captain Ratlin jumped upon the inner braces of the taffrail,
and shading his eyes with his hands for a moment, looked steadily to
windward, then glanced at his well-filled sails as though he was loth to
lose even a minute of such a fair wind. He delayed, however, but a
second, when jumping down to the deck again, he issued his orders in
those brief but significant tones of voice, which at the same time
imparts promptness and confidence in a waiting crew on shipboard.
"In studd'nsails, gaff-topsails, fore royal and top-gallantsails, with a
will, men, cheerily, cheerily O!"
These were tones that the crew of the "Sea Witch" were no strangers to,
and sounds they loved, for they betokened a thorough and complete

feeling of confidence between commander and men, and they worked
with spirit.
"Lay aft here, and brail the spanker up!" continued the captain,
promptly.
"Ay, ay, sir!" was the response of a half dozen ready hands, as they
sprang to do his bidding.
The vessel was thus, by the consummation of these orders, quickly
reduced to her mainsail, foresail, and foretopsail, while she flew before
the on-coming gale at the rate of seventeen or eighteen knots an hour,
being actually much faster than the sea. It was now evident to every
one on board that a severe gale of wind was gathering, and its force was
momentarily more powerfully exercised upon the vessel.
"She staggers under it, Mr. Faulkner," said his superior, with a
calmness that evinced perfect self-reliance and coolness, while he
regarded the increasing gale.
"Ay, sir, you can drive her at almost any speed," answered the mate.
"She's like a mettled courser, sir, and loves the fleet track."
"Scud while you can, Mr. Faulkner, it's a true nautical rule. Some men
will always heave a ship to if there is a cap fill of--"
"Double-reef the mainsail!" shouted the captain, interrupting himself,
to give an order that he saw was imperative.
"--Wind, but I believe in scudding, if you can," he added.
"Double-reef foretopsail! and look ye, Mr. Faulkner, have presenter
sheets bent on the foresail, this wind is in earnest," said his superior,
more seriously, as he jumped into the mizzen shrouds and scanned the
sea to windward again.
The gale still increased, and everything being now made snug on board
the "Sea Witch," she was run before it with almost incredible speed. It
would have been a study to have regarded the calm self-possession and
complete coolness of the young commander during this startling gale;
he never once left his post, every inch of the vessel seemed under his
eye, and not the least trifle of duty was for a moment forgotten. If
possible, he was more particular than usual that his orders in the
smallest item were strictly observed, and thus with his iron will and
strong intelligence he mastered every contingency of the hour,
imparting that indispensable confidence among his people so requisite
to perfect control. There was a firmness now expressed in the

compressed lips, and a sternness in the eye, that had not before been
manifested, while there was a breathing of authority in his smallest
order.
In an instant