He
saw death peering close to his face. He felt the icy breath of
the Grim Reaper upon his brow. A coward at heart, he lost
every vestige of his nerve at this crucial moment of his life.
Leaping from the wheelhouse to the deck he ran backward
and forward shrieking at the top of his lungs begging and
entreating someone to save him, and offering fabulous rewards
to the man who carried him safely to the shore.
The sight of their captain in a blue funk had its effect upon
the majority of the crew, so that in a moment a pack of
screaming, terror-ridden men had supplanted the bravos and
bullies of the Halfmoon.
From the cabin companionway Barbara Harding looked
upon the disgusting scene. Her lip curled in scorn at the sight
of these men weeping and moaning in their fright. She saw
Ward busy about one of the hatches. It was evident that he
intended making a futile attempt to utilize it as a means of
escape after the Halfmoon struck, for he was attaching ropes
to it and dragging it toward the port side of the ship, away
from the shore. Larry Divine crouched beside the cabin and
wept.
When Simms gave up the ship Barbara Harding saw the
wheelmen, there had been two of them, desert their post, and
almost instantly the nose of the Halfmoon turned toward the
rocks; but scarcely had the men reached the deck than Theriere
leaped to their place at the wheel.
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