I am glad we are not under sail."
There was a sharp, hissing sound as the line of white water
approached them, and then the squall struck them with such force
and fury that the lads instinctively grasped at the shrouds. The
mizzen had brought the craft in a moment head to wind, and Joe
Chambers and the two sailors at once lowered it and stowed it away.
"Only put a couple of tiers on," the skipper shouted. "We may have
to upsail again if this goes on."
The sea got up with great rapidity, and a few minutes after the
squall had struck them the Susan was beginning to pitch heavily. The
wind increased in force, and seemed to scream rather than whistle
in the rigging.
"The sea is getting up fast!" Geoffrey shouted in the skipper's
ear as he took his place close to him.
"It won't be very heavy yet," Joe Chambers replied; "the sands
break its force. But the tide has turned now, and as it makes over
the sand there will be a tremendous sea here in no time; that is
if this wind holds, and it seems to me that it is going to be an
unusual gale altogether."
"How long will it be before we can cross the Spit?"
"We are nor going to cross today, that's certain," the skipper
said. "There will be a sea over those sands that would knock the
life out of the strongest craft that ever floated. No, I shall wait
here for another hour or two if I can, and then slip my cable and
run for the Crouch.
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