The vessel reeled over so far under the blow that, for a time, all on board thought that she would capsize.

The two sailors at the helm, however, held on sturdily; and at last her head drifted off on the wind, and she flew along before its force.
The sea rose as if by magic.

Where, for weeks, scarcely a ripple had ruffled the surface of the water; now great waves, with crested tops, tore along.

The air was full of blinding foam, swept from the tops of the waves; and it was difficult for those on board even to breathe, when facing the force of the wind.
"This is tremendous," Ned shouted in Gerald's ears, "and as there seem to be islands all over these seas, if we go on at the rate we are doing now, methinks that it will not be long before we land on one or another.

We are, as I reckon, near Hispaniola, but there is no saying which way we may drift; for these storms are almost always changeable, and while we are running south at present, an hour hence we may be going in the opposite direction." For twenty-four hours the storm continued, with unabated fury.