It may be comin' while we be lookin' and wonderin'Maybe it's in that wind out over the sea that's bringin' with it loss and wreck, and sore distress, and sad heartsLook! Look!" he cried suddenly"There's something in that wind and in the hoast beyont that sounds, and looks, and tastes, and smells like deathLord, make me answer cheerful, when my call comes!" He held up his arms devoutly, and raised his hatHis mouth moved as though he were prayingAfter a few minutes' silence, he got up, shook hands with me, and blessed me, and said goodbye, and hobbled offIt all touched me, and upset me very much
I was glad when the coastguard came along, with his spyglass under his armHe stopped to talk with me, as he always does, but all the time kept looking at a strange ship
"I can't make her out," he said"She's a Russian, by the look of herBut she's knocking about in the queerest wayShe doesn't know her mind a bitShe seems to see the storm coming, but can't decide whether to run up north in the open, or to put in hereLook there again! She is steered mighty strangely, for she doesn't mind the hand on the wheel, changes about with every puff of windWe'll hear more of her before this time tomorrow
CHAPTER 7
CUTTING FROM "THE DAILYGRAPH", 8 AUGUST
(PASTED IN MINA MURRAY'S JOURNAL)
From a correspondent
One of the greatest and suddenest storms on record has just been experienced here, with results both strange and uniqueThe weather had been somewhat sultry, but not to any degree uncommon in the month of AugustSaturday evening was as fine as was ever known, and the great body of holiday-makers laid out yesterday for visits to Mulgrave Woods, Robin Hood's Bay, Rig Mill, Runswick, Staithes, and the various trips in the neighborhood of WhitbyThe steamers Emma and Scarborough made trips up and down the coast, and there was an unusual amount of 'tripping' both to and from WhitbyThe day was unusually fine till the afternoon, when some of the gossips who frequent the East Cliff churchyard, and from the commanding eminence watch the wide sweep of sea visible to the north and east, called attention to a sudden show of 'mares tails' high in the sky to the northwestThe wind was then blowing from the south-west in the mild degree which in barometrical language is ranked 'No'
The coastguard on duty at once made report, and one old fisherman, who for more than half a century has kept watch on weather signs from the East Cliff, foretold in an emphatic manner the coming of a sudden stormThe approach of sunset was so very beautiful, so grand in its masses of splendidly coloured clouds, that there was quite an assemblage on the walk along the cliff in the old churchyard to enjoy the beautyBefore the sun dipped below the black mass of Kettleness, standing boldly athwart the western sky, its downward way was marked by myriad clouds of every sunset colour, flame, purple, pink, green, violet, and all the tints of gold, with here and there masses not large, but of seemingly absolute blackness, in all sorts of shapes, as well outlined as colossal silhouettesThe experience was not lost on the painters, and doubtless some of the sketches of the 'Prelude to the Great Storm' will grace the R
More than one captain made up his mind then and there that his 'cobble' or his 'mule', as they term the different classes of boats, would remain in the harbour till the storm had passedThe wind fell away entirely during the evening, and at midnight there was a dead calm, a sultry heat, and that prevailing intensity which, on the approach of thunder, affects persons of a sensitive nature
There were but few lights in sight at sea, for even the coasting steamers, which usually hug the shore so closely, kept well to seaward, and but few fishing boats were in sightThe only sail noticeable was a foreign schooner with all sails set, which was seemingly going westwardsThe foolhardiness or ignorance of her officers was a prolific theme for comment whilst she remained in sight, and efforts were made to signal her to reduce sail in the face of her dangerBefore the night shut down she was seen with sails idly flapping as she gently rolled on the undulating swell of the sea
"As idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean
Shortly before ten o'clock the stillness of the air grew quite oppressive, and the silence was so marked that the bleating of a sheep inland or the barking of a dog in the town was distinctly heard, and the band on the pier, with its lively French air, was like a dischord in the great harmony of nature's silenceA little after midnight came a strange sound from over the sea, and high overhead the air began to carry a strange, faint, hollow booming
Then without warning the tempest brokeWith a rapidity which, at the time, seemed incredible, and even afterwards is impossible to realize, the whole aspect of nature at once became convulsedThe waves rose in growing fury, each over-topping its fellow, till in a very few minutes the lately glassy sea was like a roaring and devouring
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