But it somehow runs in my mind once more that it is clearer under the land . '' `` So ? '' said Hoseason . `` We 'll have to haul our wind then , Mr. Riach ; we 'll have to come as near in about the end of Mull as we can take her , sir ; and even then we 'll have the land to kep the wind off us , and that stoneyard on our lee . Well , we 're in for it now , and may as well crack on . '' With that he gave an order to the steersman , and sent Riach to the foretop . There were only five men on deck , counting the officers ; these being all that were fit -LRB- or , at least , both fit and willing -RRB- for their work . So , as I say , it fell to Mr. Riach to go aloft , and he sat there looking out and hailing the deck with news of all he saw . `` The sea to the south is thick , '' he cried ; and then , after a while , `` it does seem clearer in by the land . '' `` Well , sir , '' said Hoseason to Alan , `` we 'll try your way of it . But I think I might as well trust to a blind fiddler . Pray God you 're right . '' `` Pray God I am ! '' says Alan to me . `` But where did I hear it ? Well , well , it will be as it must . '' As we got nearer to the turn of the land the reefs began to be sown here and there on our very path ; and Mr. Riach sometimes cried down to us to change the course . Sometimes , indeed , none too soon ; for one reef was so close on the brig 's weather board that when a sea burst upon it the lighter sprays fell upon her deck and wetted us like rain . The brightness of the night showed us these perils as clearly as by day , which was , perhaps , the more alarming . It showed me , too , the face of the captain as he stood by the steersman , now on one foot , now on the other , and sometimes blowing in his hands , but still listening and looking and as steady as steel .
Neither he nor Mr. XXXXX had shown well in the fighting ; but I saw they were brave in their own trade , and admired them all the more because I found Alan very white .
Alan Hoseason Mull Riach fiddler foretop night right steersman stoneyard