Masterman Ready - by Captain Marryat




Chapter I

It was in the month of October, 18--, that the Pacific, a large ship,
was running before a heavy gale of wind in the middle of the vast
Atlantic Ocean. She had but little sail, for the wind was so strong,
that the canvas would have been split into pieces by the furious blasts
before which she was driven through the waves, which were very high,
and following her almost as fast as she darted through their boiling
waters; sometimes heaving up her stern and sinking her bows down so
deep into the hollow of the sea, that it appeared as if she would have
dived down underneath the waves; but she was a fine vessel, and the
captain was a good seaman, who did what he considered best for the
safety of his vessel, and then put his trust in that Providence who is
ever watchful over us.

The captain stood before the wheel, watching the men who were steering
the ship; for when you are running before a heavy gale, it requires
great attention to the helm: and as he looked around him and up at the
heavens, he sang in a low voice the words of a sea song:

"One wide water all around us,
All above us one black sky."

And so it was with them;--they were in the middle of the Atlantic, not
another vessel to be seen, and the heavens were covered with black