Still, they might serve now to carry the ship a
point or two towards the north, and this was the sole avenue of escape
which remained. Here, again, was one of those trivial circumstances
which are so potent in the shaping of events. Had either of the sails
blown out, or had the mainsail been set at the same time as the
foresail, the course followed during the next few hours must have been
deviated from to some extent, and the alteration of a cable's length in
direction could not fail to exercise the most momentous result on the
fortunes of the _Kansas_. But ships are singularly akin to men in
respect to the apparent vagaries of fate. A moment's hesitation, a
mere pace to right or left, may mean all the difference between success
and failure, safety and danger.
Leaving the chart on the table, where it was secured by drawing-pins,
Courtenay went back to his cabin to obtain a pair of sea-boots. Seeing
Joey sitting on his tail and shivering, unable to indulge in a
comfortable lick because the taste of salt water was hateful, he hunted
for a padded mackintosh coat which he had procured for the dog's
protection in cold latitudes.
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