The Rover's Secret: A Tale of the Pirate Cays and Lagoons of Cuba

by Harry Collingwood

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.

  THE FOUNDERING OF THE "DOLPHIN."

  I allowed the first paroxysm of my father's grief to wear itself outunchecked and uninterrupted; but when he had somewhat recovered hiscalmness I laid my hand upon his shoulder and said:

  "Father, listen to me. You have told me your whole story; I havelistened to every word of it most attentively; and, though I admit thatit is a singular enough history, you have not yet mentioned one singlecircumstance directly inculpating my mother. For my part I believe shewas innocent of the duplicity you charged her with, and that she onlyspoke the truth when she asserted that her conduct admitted of a simpleand easy explanation."

  "Do you really believe that, Leo, on your honour as a gentleman?"demanded my father eagerly.

  "I believe it, sir, as implicitly as I do the fact of my own existence."

  "Well," said my father, sighing heavily, "there have been times when Ihave felt almost disposed to do so too; what a blessed relief it wouldbe to me if I could believe it altogether! It is these distractingdoubts which are wearing both my life and my reason away, and it wasthose same doubts which prevented my enjoying your company when you werea child, and almost succeeded in destroying my natural affection foryou; it was those doubts which caused me to neglect you as I did whenyou were most in need of a parent's love and care; and it was these samedoubts again which--forgive me for saying it, Leo--caused me almost torejoice when I first contemplated the possibility of your being killedin the mutiny."

  "Well," said I, "that is a strange confession for a father to make tohis own son--a strange feeling for a parent to entertain toward his ownoffspring. How do you account for it, sir?"

  "I will tell you, Leo," said my father. "Sit down, my son, and do notlook at me so coldly; if you had passed through as many years of mentalanguish as I have endured, you would wonder, not so much that my ideashave been warped and distorted, as that my reason has not altogethergiven way beneath the strain. For, Leo, I want you to understand that Iloved your mother; _I loved her_!" he repeated fiercely, with a strangemaniacal gleam flashing in his eyes. Then, after pausing for a momentand recovering control of himself by a powerful effort, he continued:

  "What was the question?--oh, yes, I remember! In the first place, youwere, as a child, strikingly like your mother--you are so even now,although the likeness is no longer so marked as it was. Thus you were aconstant reminder to me of one who had first raised me to the highestpinnacle of human bliss only to hurl me thence into the lowest depths ofgrief and humiliation. Then your wonderful physical resemblance to yourmother caused me to dread that you would also inherit her character, andthat you would grow up deceitful and untrustworthy. Connect those twofeelings with the unbalanced state of my mind and you will easilyunderstand the rest.

  "This miserable state of things remained with me up to the time ofreceiving the letter penned by you after your escape from La Guayra; andyou will not be surprised to learn that, after so many years of mentalanguish, as acute at the end as it was at the beginning, your letterfound me with my health undermined, my reason tottering, and myself inhourly danger of dropping into a suicide's grave. That letter, Leo,aroused me; it dispelled the unhealthy vapours from my mind, caused meto see circumstances in a totally different light from that in which Ihad regarded them before, and, finally, impelled me to take ship andcome out here to join you; as the idea suddenly took hold upon me that,with the aid of your young, healthy, vigorous, common-sense intellect,the question which has tormented me all these years might after all bedefinitely settled one way or the other. And now you have not only thebitter secret of my life, Leo, but the explanation of my being on boardthe Indiaman."

  I warmly grasped the hand which my father extended to me across thetable, and said:

  "I believe, father, you have done well to come out here; indeed I mightalmost venture to say that your decision to do so seems providential, asperhaps you too will think, when I tell you that a certain GiuseppeMerlani, an Italian, is a notorious character in these regions. Notthat I think it probable _he_ can be the individual who has caused youall your trouble, for he is a pirate; and I can scarcely realise thepossibility of anyone who has ever enjoyed my poor mother's acquaintancedegenerating into such a character as that of pirate. But let that beas it may, now that we are together, and have no longer any secrets fromeach other, we can talk the whole affair unreservedly over together;and, depend upon it, father, we shall eventually succeed insatisfactorily demonstrating my mother's truthfulness and thegroundlessness of your suspicions that you held but a subordinate placein her affection."

  "May mercy grant it, Leo!" fervently ejaculated my father. We then satdown and more composedly talked the whole affair over again, I askingquestions on such points as seemed to need further explanation, and myfather replying to them, until I thought I had gained all theinformation it was possible for him to give. I was especiallyparticular in my questions respecting the man Merlani; and though myfather was unable to tell me much about him, the little I learnedsufficed me to arrive at the conclusion that our friend the hero of theConconil lagoons might, after all, turn out to be the same individual.The only point which puzzled me was, if such were really the case, inwhat possible way could such a man have ever been associated with mymother!

  The weather continued fine; and on the afternoon of the day followingour long conversation my little fleet sailed into Port Royal harbour,and anchored not far from the _Mars_.

  On going on board the flag-ship to report myself, I learned that theadmiral had left for the Penn nearly a couple of hours before; whilstchatting with Captain Ayres, however, the signal midshipman belonging tothe _Mars_ reported a signal from the Penn, which turned out to be mynumber; and, on this being answered by the _Dolphin_, it was followed byan invitation to me to join my old friend at dinner, he having evidentlynoticed our arrival and recognised the schooner on his way home.

  I, of course, lost no time in obeying the signal; and, thinking I mightventure upon the liberty, took my father with me. We were both receivedwith the utmost cordiality, to which, in my own case, was added manyexpressions of warm approval of my conduct. I then learned that, had Iarrived a day earlier, I should have had an opportunity of once moremeeting my old friend Courtenay, who had sailed that morning afterhaving brought in a large French merchantman with a valuable cargo,which he had been lucky enough to fall in with and capture. Thismention of Courtenay afforded me a very good opportunity to ask ifanything further had been seen or heard of Merlani and his schooner; inreply to which the admiral assured me that, though my gallant youngshipmate had most assiduously sought the pirate, nothing further hadbeen seen of him; and it was thought that, disheartened by thedestruction of his stronghold, he had left that part of the worldaltogether.

  During the course of the evening the admiral informed me that my returnhad happened most opportunely, and inquired of me how long it would bebefore I could sail again, as he wished me to proceed to sea with allpossible despatch on an important mission. I replied that if the cruisewas to be only a short one, say of a fortnight or so, I could go to seaagain next morning; but if it was likely to be protracted beyond thatdate I should wish to replenish my stock of provisions and water beforeleaving port. Upon that he ordered me to haul in alongside the dockyardwharf next morning, and if my rigging needed overhauling to see to it atonce, as he should endeavour to get me off again in three days at thelatest.

  My father and I slept at the Penn that night; and next morning, on myway down to the schooner, I established him in comfortable quarters,recommended by the admiral, on the southernmost spur of Long Mountain,where, in addition to a pure and healthy atmosphere, he would have theadvantage of a magnificent view of the harbour and sea to the southward,as well as a long range of superb tropical landscape, upon which toexercise the powers of his brush during my absence.

  In the course of the morning, after the _Dolphin_ had been hauled inalongside the wharf and Fidd had set all hands to work ove
rhauling therigging, I learned from the admiral that it was his intention to send medown on the Venezuelan coast to cruise, in conjunction with my formeracquaintance the _Dido_, on the lookout for a Spanish treasure-shipwhich, it was rumoured, was about to sail from Cartagena with importantdespatches. Of such consequence was the capture of this ship consideredthat I was frankly told a couple of frigates would have been sent tolook after her, had such been available; unfortunately, however, therewere none in harbour when the intelligence had been received, four daysbefore; the _Dido_, therefore, being the only ship then at liberty, hadbeen despatched forthwith, and I was now to follow her, so that shouldthe Spaniards slip through the hands of one, the other might have achance to pick her up.

  By the afternoon of the third day the _Dolphin_ was once more ready forsea; and on reporting this to the admiral I at once received my ordersand was directed to be off at once. As I had quite expected this I hadrun up during the morning to see and say good-bye to my father; I hadnothing, therefore, to detain me; and by sunset we were again at sea,clear of the shoals, and standing away to the southward with everystitch of canvas spread that the schooner could stagger under.

  My instructions were to first of all proceed to the coast nearCartagena, endeavour, by any means which might happen to presentthemselves, to obtain information of the date of sailing of thetreasure-ship; and, in the event of my being successful, to then cruiseto the eastward on the lookout for the _Dido_, on falling in with whichI was to communicate to Captain Venn such intelligence as I might havepicked up, and thereafter act under his instructions. If I failed tomeet with the _Dido_ I was to do my best to capture the Spaniardunaided, or, if he appeared too heavy for me to tackle single-handed, tofollow him and keep him in sight until I could obtain assistance.

  As the information to hand respecting this treasure-ship was verymeagre, the admiral had urged me to use all expedition, in the firstplace, to reach the coast, and secure, if possible, some reliableintelligence; we, therefore, carried on all that night and the whole ofthe next day, being favoured with such a fine breeze, and making suchgood progress that twenty-four hours after sailing we had accomplishednearly half our distance.

  Towards the close of the afternoon watch, however, the wind showed signsof failing us, which it did so rapidly that by two bells in the firstdog-watch our canvas was thrashing itself threadbare against the masts,and the schooner was rolling gunwale under as she headed all round thecompass. The atmosphere was hot and close almost to the point ofsuffocation; the sky, though perfectly cloudless, was thick and hazy;and the sun, as he drooped toward the horizon, glowed like a red-hotball, whilst the vapour through which he was seen magnified him to atleast three times his ordinary dimensions.

  "What do you think of the weather, Mr Pottle?" said I to the quarter-master, as he left the boatswain and strolled aft from the waist, wherethe two had been jogging fore and aft together for the last half-hour,and regarding the sky every few minutes with somewhat ostentatiousglances of anxiety.

  "Well, sir, I hardly know what to make of it," was the reply. "Mr Fiddand I have been comparing notes together; the boatswain has been a longtime on this station, as perhaps you know, sir, and he says he doesn'thalf like the looks of it; in fact, he remarked to me not five minutesago that he wouldn't be surprised to find that a hurricane is brewing.Have you looked at the glass lately, sir?"

  "Not since noon," said I; "it was pretty steady then, with a slighttendency to drop, it is true, but nothing to speak of. Let us see whatit says now?"

  We turned to the open sky-light and looked down through it. Thebarometer was, for convenience, hung in the sky-light so that it mightbe consulted with equal facility either from the deck or the cabin, anda single glance sufficed to show us that the mercury had fallen a fullinch since the instrument had been set in the morning.

  "Depend upon it, sir, Fidd is right, and we are in for a blow," remarkedPottle. "And whether or no," he continued, "it seems a pity to let thecanvas beat itself to pieces for no good, as it is doing now. Shall westow it, sir? There is no occasion to call all hands, the watch isstrong enough to tackle the job."

  I looked round once more at the weather. There was not a breath of windanywhere; the water, undisturbed by the faintest indication of a cat's-paw, showed a surface like polished steel, and the swell was fast goingdown. The sun, just touching the horizon, was of a fierce fiery-redcolour, and apparently swollen to abnormal dimensions; but save for theangry lurid glare of the luminary, and a very perceptible thickening ofthe atmosphere, there did not appear to be anything out of the common.Still I was not altogether satisfied, I had a _feeling_ that somethingwas about to happen. I took another look at the barometer. The mercuryhad visibly dropped still further in the few minutes which had elapsedsince we last looked at it. "Yes," said I, "clew up and furleverything, Mr Pottle, if you please. Let the watch set about the jobat once, and see that they make a close furl of it whilst they are aboutit."

  "Ay, ay, sir," was the answer. "Hands, shorten sail! Haul down andclew up, fore and aft; in with everything. Settle away your peak andmain halliards, and let's get this big mainsail snug under its cover thefirst thing. In main-topmast staysail. Let go the topgallant andtopsail halliards, and clew up and furl the sails. Man the jib andstaysail downhauls, let go the halliards, haul down. Lay out there,for'ard, and stow those jibs. Shall we send the royal and topgallant-yards down on deck, sir, and house the topmasts whilst we are about it?"

  "We may as well," I replied. "If it comes on to blow heavily theschooner will be all the easier if relieved of her top-hamper, and if itturns out to be a false alarm, why we can soon get her ataunto again,and there will be no harm done."

  The men, many of whom were thoroughly seasoned and experienced hands,had evidently been feeling anxious, and seemed glad enough to find theirofficers on the alert, if one might judge by the activity with whichthey went about their work, and the eagerness which they evinced to getit expeditiously performed. By the time that everything was made snug,the ship under bare poles, the guns secured with extra tackles and whatnot, it was pitch-dark--darker, indeed, if such were possible, than onthe night of our adventure with the Indiaman. Still, there was no signof a change, so when the steward summoned me to dinner I had nohesitation about following him, leaving the deck in charge of thegunner, with instructions to keep both eyes and ears open, and to callme the moment he had reason to believe the breeze was coming.

  Dinner over, I again went on deck. Still no change, the air seemedthick, and hot as the breath of a furnace, but so still that the flameof a candle brought on deck burned straight up, save when the roll ofthe vessel caused it to waver to port or to starboard as the case mightbe.

  "After all I don't think it's going to be anything, sir, unless, mayhap,another thunder-storm like the one we had," commenced the gunner, as Istood looking round the horizon and vainly endeavouring to pierce thedarkness which enveloped us.

  "Hark!" I interrupted. "Do you hear that, Tompion?"

  A low moaning sound had become audible in the atmosphere, awayapparently on our starboard beam, and as we listened it graduallyincreased in intensity until it had become a rushing roar so loud as toalmost drown the human voice, even when raised to its highest pitch.

  "Ay, ay, sir; I hear it sure enough," was the reply. "It's coming now.Look out, sir I lay hold on anything you can put your hand upon. Harda-starboard with your helm! Look out there, for'ard!"

  Louder and louder grew the sound until it became absolutely deafening,and then with an awful overwhelming rush the gale burst upon us. Itstruck the schooner fair on her starboard, broadside, and stout andstaunch as was the craft, she bowed beneath it until her larboardgunwale was buried.

  "Good heavens!" I thought, "she is going over, she is going to turn theturtle with us!" as I felt the incline of the deck getting steeper andsteeper beneath my feet, and I turned and clawed my way aft toward thewheel. On reaching it I found there was someone already there.

&nb
sp; "Hard a-weather; over with it, man; hard over!" I yelled as I got holdof the spokes and vainly strove to move the helm.

  "It _is_ hard a-weather, sir," shrieked Tompion's voice in reply; "butwe're done for, sir; if she won't pay off she's bound to capsize."

  "Stick to her," I shouted back as I threw my whole weight on the spokesto leeward, "I can feel a tremor in the wheel; she's gathering head-way!"

  Such was indeed the case, and after a few breathless seconds, duringwhich it seemed that another inch of inclination would have sufficed toturn her bottom up, the schooner began to right, recovering herself atlast with a jerk which filled the decks fore and aft with water, andflying away before the gale like a frightened steed.

  The craft always steered like a little boat, and once fairly before thewind Tompion could easily keep her there single-handed, so, letting gothe wheel and slanting myself backward against the force of the blast,which pressed upon my body like a solid wall, and demanded all mystrength to prevent my being helplessly run forward, I made a snatch atthe binnacle and peered into it. We were heading due east, which was agreat relief to my mind, as I knew that we had plenty of sea-room inthat direction, and could run for days if need were without bringing upagainst anything. A man came working his way aft, hauling himself alongby the bulwarks, to relieve the wheel, and Tompion joined me under thepartial shelter of the companion.

  "That was a narrow squeak, sir, if ever there was one," he remarked."When you joined me at the wheel I wouldn't have given a brass farthingfor our chance; but we shall do well enough now, at all events until thesea rises; and even then I don't feel particular duberous. Thisschooner is as fine a sea-boat as ever was launched; and I'd sooner takemy chance of riding out a gale in her than in some seventy-fours I'veknown."

  "Yes," I replied, "I think we shall be all right now. I wonder whetherwe have sustained any damage aloft?"

  "Impossible to say yet, sir," returned Tompion. "We shall know soonenough, however. But it was a marcy as them yards was sent down on deckand the topmasts housed; if they'd been on end it would have made morethan extra leverage enough to have capsized us. It's to be hoped we'veplenty of sea-room ahead of us, sir."

  I satisfied his mind upon that point, and the gunner then went forwardto see whether the men were all right, returning shortly afterwards withthe satisfactory intelligence that they were.

  The sea rose with frightful rapidity, notwithstanding that the wind inits furious career caught the crests of the waves as they rose and sweptthem through the air in a drenching, blinding torrent of scud-water; andin an hour from the bursting of the hurricane we found ourselves exposedto a new danger, that of being pooped and swamped by the mountainousseas which came rushing after us, towering high above our taffrail andmomentarily threatening to break on board.

  I turned to Tompion, who was standing abaft near the helmsman.

  "Tompion," said I, "we must get some canvas of some sort upon the shipor we shall be overrun by the sea. Do you think we might venture to setthe foresail, close reefed?"

  "Lord bless you, Mr Lascelles," was the reply, "the canvas ain't wovethat'd stand a single minute before such a howlin' gale as this here;it'd be blown clean out of the gaskets if we was to cast a single one of'em loose; indeed, I shouldn't be a bit surprised to find half the sailsblown away from the spars as it is, when we get light enough to see howthe little barkie has come out of the scrimmage. Still, if so be as youthinks fit to give the order, we--"

  "Look out! hold on everybody fore and aft! here it comes!" I shouted,interrupting Tompion; for at that moment I caught sight of an enormouswave rushing after us with its gleaming white phosphorescent cresttowering a dozen feet above our taffrail, and curling over in such amanner that I saw it must inevitably break on board. I had just time tospring to the foot of the mainmast and grasp a rope's-end when down itthundered upon the deck, completely burying and overwhelming theschooner fore and aft, filling her decks to the rail, and sweepingforward with such irresistible power that my arms were almost torn frommy sockets as I held on for dear life to the rope I had grasped. I hadheard a crash even above the howling of the gale and the rush of wateras I was swept off my feet, and I made up my mind that the schooner wasdoomed; nothing, I thought, could withstand the rush and power of sotremendous a body of water as that which had swept over the ship; and ifshe ever rose again I was quite prepared to find that everything abovethe level of the decks had been carried away, and that the hull was fullof water and ready to founder beneath the next sea which might strikeus.

  At length, half drowned, I once more found my feet and got my head abovewater. Either there was a little more light in the sky or my eyes hadbecome accustomed in a measure to the gloom, or perhaps it was thephosphorescence of the sea which helped us, at all events there waslight enough from some source to enable me to see that the schooner hadrelieved herself from the mountain of water which had overwhelmed her,and was still afloat. My first glance was aft, and I must confess thatI was as surprised as I was pleased to see that Tompion and the helmsmanwere still on board, and that the wheel was intact. The bulwarks,however, excepting some ten feet or so on each quarter, were gonethroughout the whole length of the ship, so far as I could see. Thesky-light was smashed to atoms, leaving a great yawning hole in thedeck; the boats had disappeared from the booms, and I could see no signof anyone moving about on the forecastle.

  As I stood, bewildered and trying to recover my scattered senses,Tompion made his way along the deck to _me_.

  "Are you all right, sir?" he asked.

  "Yes--that is, I believe so, Tompion. Are you?"

  "All right and tight, sir, thank God!" answered the gunner. "But I'mafraid it's a bad job with the hands for'ard, sir. I don't see anybodymoving about--yes, there is--there's one man--or two. I'll see if Ican't reach the fo'c's'le and find out the extent of the damage. And,if there's hands enough left to do it, we _must_ get some canvas on theship at once, as you said, sir. Another such job as that last'd finishus. As it is the ship must be nearly half full of water. We must getsome planks and a tarpaulin over that hole in the deck first thing,however. I'll go for'ard and see what can be done."

  Watching his chance my companion made a sudden rush along the decktoward the forecastle, which he gained in safety, and from which hereturned in about five minutes, followed by the carpenter and severalmen, with the gratifying intelligence that, so far as he couldascertain, only two of the crew were missing. The forecastle, however,was reported to be nearly three feet deep in water; and the heavy sicklyheave of the ship told me but too plainly that, whilst we had alreadyexperienced a very narrow escape, there was undoubtedly a great deal ofwater in the hold, and that we were in a most critical situation.

  Without waiting to sound the well, I ordered the pumps to be rigged andmanned forthwith, the carpenter, with half a dozen hands, at the sametime setting out to get the lumber and tarpaulin necessary for closingup the yawning aperture in the deck left by the demolished sky-light.Meanwhile another gang of men, under Woodford the master, were busyforward trying to loose, reef, and set the foresail.

  The carpenter and his gang had found what they wanted, and were busywith their work when the helmsman gave a warning cry, and at the samemoment another sea came tumbling inboard, not so heavy as the first,certainly, but sufficient to flood the decks to a depth of a couple offeet; and I heard the water pouring down into the cabin like a cataract.This happened five or six times in succession, the men being each timedriven from their work and their labour rendered of no avail. At lengthanother unusually heavy sea broke on board, and when the decks were oncemore clear the water could be plainly heard rushing about in the holdwith the heave and roll of the ship.

  "We're foundering! we're foundering! every man for himself!" was now thecry, and the men made a rush to the two boats still hanging to thedavits. A groan of despair burst from the poor fellows as, on one ofthem jumping into each to clear her away for lowering, it was found thatneither boat would swim, s
ome of the bottom planking being driven out ineach case.

  I saw now that the _Dolphin_ was a doomed ship; that awful chasm in thedeck could never be covered in and made secure in time to prevent herfoundering; I therefore rapidly cast over in my mind what would be bestto do. In a minute I had the necessary idea, which it seemed had at thesame moment presented itself to the carpenter, for he staggered towardme and hoarsely shouted into my ear:

  "The ship can't live ten minutes longer, sir. Better cut away the mastsso as to leave us something to cling to when she goes from under us."

  "Yes," said I, "do it at once. Steady, men!" I continued, "out knivesevery one of you and cut away every rope attached to the hull; as manyof you as can get at the lanyards of the rigging cut them; the masts areour only chance."

  The men understood me and at once set to work, most of them goingforward and attacking the foremast first, so as to get it down and outof the way before commencing upon the mainmast. The back-stays werefirst severed, then the lanyards of the shrouds, commencing at theaftermost and working forward; and when the hands had cut through abouthalf of them the remainder suddenly parted and the foremast went overthe bows with a crash, being only prevented from going adrift altogetherand lost by the circumstance that the topsail sheets and other runninggear had not been let go or cut away. The foremast in falling broughtdown the main-topmast with it; and I fancied that, as it crashed down onthe deck, I heard, above the hoarse shriek of the gale, a human crywhich led me to fear that some of the workers had been hurt. LeavingFidd with half a dozen hands to the somewhat delicate task of securingthe wreck of the mast sufficiently to prevent its prematurely breakingadrift, whilst at the same time taking precautions against the danger ofits being dragged down by the ship when she should founder, the rest ofthe crew came aft and at once commenced an attack upon the mainmast,which it had now become necessary to get rid of with the utmostexpedition, as, owing to the fall of the foremast, the ship was inmomentary peril of broaching to and capsizing. The men had reached themain rigging and were in the very act of commencing operations when ahuge sea swept unbroken under the schooner; and as the crest passed herand she settled slopingly down on the back of it, I heard the water inthe hold come rushing aft, accompanied by a crashing sound below whichtold me that the cabin bulkhead had given way, and the next instant thewater surged _up_ through the sky-light-hole in the deck, showing thatshe was at that moment full to the beams abaft. Her stern settledbodily down with the weight of water in that part of her, whilst herbows, relieved of the burden, rose high in the air. She was now in thetrough between two seas, and as the one following her came sweeping upastern with towering foam-capped crest reared high in air, it becameevident that, being pinned down as it were with so much water in theafter part of her, she would not recover herself in time, and that theapproaching sea would run right over her. I knew well enough what wouldthen happen, and so did the men, for at my warning cry they at oncedropped whatever they happened to have in their hands and sprangforward. I waved to the helmsman, who up to that moment had stuck mostnobly to his perilous post, and he, understanding me, let go the wheeland rushed past me after his shipmates. On swept the wave, the watergathering up round the quarters of the devoted schooner until it beganto pour in over the taffrail. Nothing now could save the _Dolphin_--herhour had come. I glanced wildly round the deck and saw, indistinctlythrough the gloom, the dark blot-like crowd of men all clusteredtogether in the gangway, waiting to spring for the wreck of theforemast; and as the body of the wave came roaring and foaming in overthe stern, and I felt the deck canting upward under its weight, I toostaggered up the steep incline and shouted, "Jump for your lives!" asone of the men seized me round the waist whilst he thrust a rope into myhand.

  Another moment and the great mountain of foaming water had reached towhere we stood. I was swept irresistibly off my feet and hurled inamong the crowding men; I was jostled and dragged to and fro; and as thesea closed over my head, ends and bights of rope wreathed and twistedthemselves about my limbs and body; I received several violent blowsfrom what I supposed were floating pieces of wreckage; I found myself,all in a moment, inextricably entangled in a raffle of cordage whichtightened itself about my body until I could move neither hand nor foot;and then there came a great singing in my ears, and I felt that I wasbeing dragged irresistibly downward.