"Run forward, my lads!" he shouted out to Dick and me and the crew, while he himself seized the helm, making the helmsman throw himself flat on his back.  All was the work of a moment.  In another instant I heard a crashing and rending.  Our boat was knocked to fragments, and the davits carried away.  I saw the bowsprit sweeping across our deck, tearing the mainsail as it did so, and carrying away back-stays and other rigging.