NIGHT, TEMPEST, LOVE AND BATTLE And, indeed, if Cleggett had been of a mind to abandon the vessel, he could scarcely have done so now.

For his words were no more than uttered when the sharp racket of a volley of pistol shots ripped its way through the low-pitched roaring of the wind.
Loge had chosen the height of the storm to mask his approach.

He attacked with the tempest.
Without a word Cleggett put out the light in the cabin.

His men grasped their weapons and followed him to the deck.

A flash of lightning showed him, through the driving rain, the enemy rushing towards the Jasper B., pistol in hand.