Such Were The
Considerations, Which - After An Anxious Consultation With
Mr. Wyse In The Cabin, And Much Fingering Of The
Charts, - Determined Me To Carry On During The Night.
Nevertheless, I confess I was very uneasy, Though I went
to bed and fell asleep - for at sea nothing prevents that
process - my slumbers were constantly agitated by the most
vivid dreams that I ever remember to have had.
Dreams
of an arrival in England, and your coming down to meet
us, and all the pleasure I had in recounting our adventures
to you; then suddenly your face seemed to fade away
beneath a veil of angry grey surge that broke over low,
sharp-pointed rocks; and the next moment there resounded
over the ship that cry which has been the preface to so
many a disaster - the ring of which, none who have ever
heard it are likely to forget - "Breakers ahead!"
In a moment I was on deck, dressed - for it is always best
to dress, - and there, sure enough, right ahead, about a
mile and a half off, through the mist, which had come on
very thick, I could distinguish the upward shooting fluff
of seas shattering against rocks. No land was to be seen,
but the line of breakers every instant became more evident;
at the pace we were going, in seven or eight minutes we
should be upon them. Now, thought I to myself, we shall
see whether a stout heart beats beneath the silk tartan!
The result covered that brilliant garment with glory and
salt water.
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