But it was now too late , whether for recovery or revenge . Out of some forty fighting men now mustered in the stolen ship , eight had been to sea , and could play the part of mariners . With the aid of these , a slice of sail was got upon her . The cable was cut . Lawless , vacillating on his feet , and still shouting the chorus of sea-ballads , took the long tiller in his hands : and the Good Hope began to flit forward into the darkness of the night , and to face the great waves beyond the harbour bar . Richard took his place beside the weather rigging . Except for the ship 's own lantern , and for some lights in Shoreby town , that were already fading to leeward , the whole world of air was as black as in a pit . Only from time to time , as the Good Hope swooped dizzily down into the valley of the rollers , a crest would break -- a great cataract of snowy foam would leap in one instant into being -- and , in an instant more , would stream into the wake and vanish . Many of the men lay holding on and praying aloud ; many more were sick , and had crept into the bottom , where they sprawled among the cargo . And what with the extreme violence of the motion , and the continued drunken bravado of Lawless , still shouting and singing at the helm , the stoutest heart on board may have nourished a shrewd misgiving as to the result . But Lawless , as if guided by an instinct , steered the ship across the breakers , struck the lee of a great sandbank , where they sailed for awhile in smooth water , and presently after laid her alongside a rude , stone pier , where she was hastily made fast , and lay ducking and grinding in the dark . CHAPTER V -- THE GOOD HOPE -LRB- continued -RRB- The pier was not far distant from the house in which Joanna lay ; it now only remained to get the men on shore , to surround the house with a strong party , burst in the door and carry off the captive . They might then regard themselves as done with the Good Hope ; it had placed them on the rear of their enemies ; and the retreat , whether they should succeed or fail in the main enterprise , would be directed with a greater measure of hope in the direction of the forest and my Lord Foxham 's reserve . To get the men on shore , however , was no easy task ; many had been sick , all were pierced with cold ; the promiscuity and disorder on board had shaken their discipline ; the movement of the ship and the darkness of the night had cowed their spirits . They made a rush upon the pier ; my lord , with his sword drawn on his own retainers , must throw himself in front ; and this impulse of rabblement was not restrained without a certain clamour of voices , highly to be regretted in the case . When some degree of order had been restored , Dick , with a few chosen men , set forth in advance . The darkness on shore , by contrast with the flashing of the surf , appeared before him like a solid body ; and the howling and whistling of the gale drowned any lesser noise . He had scarce reached the end of the pier , however , when there fell a lull of the wind ; and in this he seemed to hear on shore the hollow footing of horses and the clash of arms . Checking his immediate followers , he passed forward a step or two alone , even setting foot upon the down ; and here he made sure he could detect the shape of men and horses moving . A strong discouragement assailed him .
If their enemies were really on the watch , if they had beleaguered the shoreward end of the pier , he and Lord XXXXX were taken in a posture of very poor defence , the sea behind , the men jostled in the dark upon a narrow causeway .
Foxham Joanna cataract clamour drowned mariners misgiving rollers sandbank violence