Explore "American Boys Afloat" by Oliver Optic on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
The Mediterranean had very suddenly lashed itself into a fury. Nothing movable would stay in place, and everything had to be secured. Rope-yarns were in great demand; and Captain Scott had done everything possible for the safety of the property on board, in the pilot-house, on deck, and in the cabin. At first everything in the galley was pitched into heaps; but Pitts had brought order out of confusion there.
By the middle of the afternoon watch, with Morris and Louis on duty, everything had been put in order; for after the captain and Felix believed that all was safe, something would break loose and need further attention. The water-casks had given them the most trouble. Felipe and Pitts had assisted them in putting the half-casks back into the run and securing them there; but the full ones, containing fifty gallons each, were more troublesome. They were blocked up in the standing-room, and made fast with strong ropes; but they still had an inclination to break away.