Daughter of Destiny by Louise M. Gouge Read Free Book Online Page B

encountered has prepared you for the violence of those seas. Yet many
have gone before us, and I have navigated the channel numerous times. We may
have to try more than once, but I shall deliver you safely to the other side.”
    “Oh, mercy,” said Gladys. “Should we not have gone around Cape Horn instead?”
    “No ma’am. That route might entail months of trying and
turning back, because where the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific meet, each
ocean seeks preeminence. Many ships have met their doom there.”
    “Oh, mercy,” Gladys repeated, pressing her hand to her
heart.
    “Don’t be frightened, sister.” Leah reached across the
table to squeeze her hand. “God has not failed us in this voyage. We may have a
bit of rough going, but He will see us safely to our destination.”
    Despite her words, Leah felt great concern for her friend.
She herself would wrap Gladys in sheets and secure her to the cot in her
cubicle. As for her own safety, she felt no need to be likewise secured. Surely
the captain and Jonah would agree. Better that she be free to assist where
needed. In fact, better that Brother Hillerman be lashed to Leah’s cot so his
sprained leg received no further injury.
    “Master Daniel.” Swain leaned toward the boy. “Tomorrow
after dinner, be sure to tie Mrs. Goat in her stall and give her plenty of
straw for cushioning.”
    “Yes sir.” The boy’s eyes sparkled, as they always did when
the captain addressed him.
    Swain now directed
the conversation to other things, but Leah noticed Jonah’s eyes sparkled just
like Daniel’s. Each time they met a new circumstance, Jonah seemed to view it
as a personal challenge. With each success, Leah’s pride in her husband grew.
She knew he would come through the Straits just as he had every storm. Further,
she knew he would adjust to life on their island destination with that same
courage and determination.
    ***
     
    Jonah took a firm
stance, grasped the halyard, and pulled with all his considerable strength.
Over these months of hoisting sail, his muscles had grown so large that Leah
had to let his shirts out. Nothing exhilarated him as much as working side by
side with the sailors, unless it was the prospect of a new challenge. He had
earned Swain’s confidence and would work on deck during the upcoming passage.
    Fifty foot
waves. Despite all he had seen, he could not imagine such monstrous seas. But
he determined to gird up the loins of his mind and face them with God’s
strength. Swain said the men working the sails would be lashed to their
positions, just as the captain would be to his place at the helm.
    “Oy, Rev, look
lively.” Samuel stood across the deck pulling the other mainsail halyard. “Keep
it even.”
    “Sorry.” Jonah
grimaced at his error. Disaster could happen when a man got lost in thought. He
put his weight into leveling the sail. “Say, Samuel, what’s all that wood we
see in the water?”
    Samuel shot a dark
glance over his shoulder and then jerked his head toward the quarterdeck where
the ladies sat sewing. Jonah caught his meaning, and fear clutched his heart.
Not for himself, but for Leah and Sister Hillerman. Some other ship had tried
this passage and failed—recently.
    Lord, be with
us. Protect us all.
    Verses of
scripture came to mind: “They that go down to the sea in ships. . .these see
the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. For He commandeth, and
raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to
the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of
trouble. . .Then they cry unto the Lord. . .and he bringeth them out of their
distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.”
    Perhaps God would
use this passage to change the hearts of Pete and the others who thus far had
spurned His salvation. When they reached the far side of the Straits, Jonah
would preach a message on those verses from Psalm 107 to remind the crew