{"id":"01KG8AKWJD51X2RYE8Y1A58PP6","cid":"bafkreib6d4eeqfucm7hkx4v7gmvccdt7uaukqpw3q5a3re34oo5rs4ee5q","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":3694,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:14.838Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG89J1GP71YDJ60P8SRH97MF","start_line":3622,"text":"CHAPTER XIX.\r\nA NARROW ESCAPE\r\n\r\n\r\nThis Dream Book of Blunt’s reminds me of a narrow escape we had, early\r\none morning.\r\n\r\nIt was the larboard watch’s turn to remain below from midnight till\r\nfour o’clock; and having turned in and slept, Blunt suddenly turned out\r\nagain about three o’clock, with a wonderful dream in his head; which he\r\nwas desirous of at once having interpreted.\r\n\r\nSo he goes to his chest, gets out his tools, and falls to ciphering on\r\nthe lid. When, all at once, a terrible cry was heard, that routed him\r\nand all the rest of us up, and sent the whole ship’s company flying on\r\ndeck in the dark. We did not know what it was; but somehow, among\r\nsailors at sea, they seem to know when real danger of any land is at\r\nhand, even in their sleep.\r\n\r\nWhen we got on deck, we saw the mate standing on the bowsprit, and\r\ncrying out _Luff! Luff!_ to some one in the dark water before the ship.\r\nIn that direction, we could just see a light, and then, the great black\r\nhull of a strange vessel, that was coming down on us obliquely; and so\r\nnear, that we heard the flap of her topsails as they shook in the wind,\r\nthe trampling of feet on the deck, and the same cry of _Luff! Luff!_\r\nthat our own mate, was raising.\r\n\r\nIn a minute more, I caught my breath, as I heard a snap and a crash,\r\nlike the fall of a tree, and suddenly, one of our flying-jib guys\r\njerked out the bolt near the cat-head; and presently, we heard our\r\njib-boom thumping against our bows.\r\n\r\nMeantime, the strange ship, scraping by us thus, shot off into the\r\ndarkness, and we saw her no more. But she, also, must have been\r\ninjured; for when it grew light, we found pieces of strange rigging\r\nmixed with ours. We repaired the damage, and replaced the broken spar\r\nwith another jib-boom we had; for all ships carry spare spars against\r\nemergencies.\r\n\r\nThe cause of this accident, which came near being the death of all on\r\nboard, was nothing but the drowsiness of the look-out men on the\r\nforecastles of both ships. The sailor who had the look-out on our\r\nvessel was terribly reprimanded by the mate.\r\n\r\nNo doubt, many ships that are never heard of after leaving port, meet\r\ntheir fate in this way; and it may be, that sometimes two vessels\r\ncoming together, jib-boom-and-jib-boom, with a sudden shock in the\r\nmiddle watch of the night, mutually destroy each other; and like\r\nfighting elks, sink down into the ocean, with their antlers locked in\r\ndeath.\r\n\r\nWhile I was at Liverpool, a fine ship that lay near us in the docks,\r\nhaving got her cargo on board, went to sea, bound for India, with a\r\ngood breeze; and all her crew felt sure of a prosperous voyage. But in\r\nabout seven days after, she came back, a most distressing object to\r\nbehold. All her starboard side was torn and splintered; her starboard\r\nanchor was gone; and a great part of the starboard bulwarks; while\r\nevery one of the lower yard-arms had been broken, in the same\r\ndirection; so that she now carried small and unsightly _jury-yards._\r\n\r\nWhen I looked at this vessel, with the whole of one side thus\r\nshattered, but the other still in fine trim; and when I remembered her\r\ngay and gallant appearance, when she left the same harbor into which\r\nshe now entered so forlorn; I could not help thinking of a young man I\r\nhad known at home, who had left his cottage one morning in high\r\nspirits, and was brought back at noon with his right side paralyzed\r\nfrom head to foot.\r\n\r\nIt seems that this vessel had been run against by a strange ship,\r\ncrowding all sail before a fresh breeze; and the stranger had rushed\r\npast her starboard side, reducing her to the sad state in which she now\r\nwas.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJQSBY7TFC87FZJ5QHN8D","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1GP71YDJ60P8SRH97MF","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKWJD10GSFWKFJJQ2K8KR","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:19.021Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:27.566Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}