{"id":"01KG8AKW5X0XGSMHE4CYJK37KP","cid":"bafkreiccjo7xrlhszm2hjbybnxowpek6daxnfd7gcoemjn5ybsg3oroomy","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":3211,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:15.149Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 3","source_file":"01KG89J1H7Y803CZ7X80F0QFHZ","start_line":3136,"text":"there till morning. Here I found the cook and steward, Wymontoo, Rope\r\nYarn, and the Dane; who, being all quiet, manageable fellows, and\r\nholding aloof from the rest since the captain’s departure, had been\r\nordered by the mate not to go below until sunrise. They were lying\r\nunder the lee of the bulwarks; two or three fast asleep, and the others\r\nsmoking their pipes, and conversing.\r\n\r\nTo my surprise, Bembo was at the helm; but there being so few to stand\r\nthere now, they told me, he had offered to take his turn with the rest,\r\nat the same time heading the watch; and to this, of course, they made\r\nno objection.\r\n\r\nIt was a fine, bright night; all moon and stars, and white crests of\r\nwaves. The breeze was light, but freshening; and close-hauled, poor\r\nlittle Jule, as if nothing had happened, was heading in for the land,\r\nwhich rose high and hazy in the distance.\r\n\r\nAfter the day’s uproar, the tranquillity of the scene was soothing, and\r\nI leaned over the side to enjoy it.\r\n\r\nMore than ever did I now lament my situation—but it was useless to\r\nrepine, and I could not upbraid myself. So at last, becoming drowsy, I\r\nmade a bed with my jacket under the windlass, and tried to forget\r\nmyself.\r\n\r\nHow long I lay there, I cannot tell; but as I rose, the first object\r\nthat met my eye was Bembo at the helm; his dark figure slowly rising\r\nand falling with the ship’s motion against the spangled heavens behind.\r\nHe seemed all impatience and expectation; standing at arm’s length from\r\nthe spokes, with one foot advanced, and his bare head thrust forward.\r\nWhere I was, the watch were out of sight; and no one else was stirring;\r\nthe deserted decks and broad white sails were gleaming in the\r\nmoonlight.\r\n\r\nPresently, a swelling, dashing sound came upon my ear, and I had a sort\r\nof vague consciousness that I had been hearing it before. The next\r\ninstant I was broad awake and on my feet. Eight ahead, and so near that\r\nmy heart stood still, was a long line of breakers, heaving and\r\nfrothing. It was the coral reef girdling the island. Behind it, and\r\nalmost casting their shadows upon the deck, were the sleeping\r\nmountains, about whose hazy peaks the gray dawn was just breaking. The\r\nbreeze had freshened, and with a steady, gliding motion, we were\r\nrunning straight for the reef.\r\n\r\nAll was taken in at a glance; the fell purpose of Bembo was obvious,\r\nand with a frenzied shout to wake the watch, I rushed aft. They sprang\r\nto their feet bewildered; and after a short, but desperate scuffle, we\r\ntore him from the helm. In wrestling with him, the wheel—left for a\r\nmoment unguarded—flew to leeward, thus, fortunately, bringing the\r\nship’s head to the wind, and so retarding her progress. Previous to\r\nthis, she had been kept three or four points free, so as to close with\r\nthe breakers. Her headway now shortened, I steadied the helm, keeping\r\nthe sails just lifting, while we glided obliquely toward the land. To\r\nhave run off before the wind—an easy thing—would have been almost\r\ninstant destruction, owing to a curve of the reef in that direction. At\r\nthis time, the Dane and the steward were still struggling with the\r\nfurious Mowree, and the others were running about irresolute and\r\nshouting.\r\n\r\nBut darting forward the instant I had the helm, the old cook thundered\r\non the forecastle with a handspike, “Breakers! breakers close\r\naboard!—’bout ship! ’bout ship!”\r\n\r\nUp came the sailors, staring about them in stupid horror.\r\n\r\n“Haul back the head-yards!” “Let go the lee fore-brace!” “Ready about!\r\nabout!” were now shouted on all sides; while distracted by a thousand\r\norders, they ran hither and thither, fairly panic-stricken.\r\n\r\nIt seemed all over with us; and I was just upon the point of throwing\r\nthe ship full into the wind (a step, which, saving us for the instant,\r\nwould have sealed our fate in the end), when a sharp cry shot by my ear\r\nlike the flight of an arrow.\r\n\r\nIt was Salem: “All ready for’ard; hard down!”\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 3"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJHQ73FX1CD9D18EPP4J3","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1H7Y803CZ7X80F0QFHZ","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKW62X03HZEJW6JVTTJ5W","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AKW5XECRGCQHFECB9714E","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:18.621Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:25.681Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}