Complete Works

lying down — that’s all. Bear a hand!” — ”Come along! Let’s give the old girl a chance,” urged the boatswain. — ”Aye! aye! Wear ship!” exclaimed quavering voices. The forecastle men, with reluctant faces, prepared to go forward. Mr. Baker pushed ahead, grunting, on all fours to show the way, and they followed him over the break. The others lay still with a vile hope in their hearts of not being required to move till they got saved or drowned in peace.
    After some time they could be seen forward appearing on the forecastle head, one by one in unsafe attitudes; hanging on to the rails, clambering over the anchors; embracing the cross-head of the windlass or hugging the fore-capstan. They were restless with strange exertions, waved their arms, knelt, lay flat down, staggered up, seemed to strive their hardest to go overboard. Suddenly a small white piece of canvas fluttered amongst them, grew larger, beating. Its narrow head rose in jerks — and at last it stood distended and triangular in the sunshine. — ”They have done it!” cried the voices aft. Captain Allistoun let go the rope he had round his wrist and rolled to leeward headlong. He could be seen casting the lee main braces off the pins while the backwash of waves splashed over him. — ”Square the main yard!” he shouted up to us — who stared at him in wonder. We hesitated to stir. “The main brace, men. Haul! haul anyhow! Lay on your backs and haul!” he screeched, half drowned down there. We did not believe we could move the main yard, but the strongest and the less discouraged tried to execute the order. Others assisted half-heartedly. Singleton’s eyes blazed suddenly as he took a fresh grip of the spokes. Captain Allistoun fought his way up to windward. — ”Haul, men! Try to move it! Haul, and help the ship.” His hard face worked suffused and furious. “Is she going off, Singleton?” he cried. — ”Not a move yet, sir,” croaked the old seaman in a horribly hoarse voice. — ”Watch the helm, Singleton,” spluttered the master. “Haul, men! Have you no more strength than rats? Haul, and earn your salt.” Mr. Creighton, on his back, with a swollen leg and a face as white as a piece of paper, blinked his eyes; his bluish lips twitched. In the wild scramble men grabbed at him, crawled over his hurt leg, knelt on his chest. He kept perfectly still, setting his teeth without a moan, without a sigh. The master’s ardour, the cries of that silent man inspired us. We hauled and hung in bunches on the rope. We heard him say with violence to Donkin, who sprawled abjectly on his stomach, — ”I will brain you with this belaying pin if you don’t catch hold of the brace,” and that victim of men’s injustice, cowardly and cheeky, whimpered: — ”Are you goin’ to murder us now?” while with sudden desperation he gripped the rope. Men sighed, shouted, hissed meaningless words, groaned. The yards moved, came slowly square against the wind, that hummed loudly on the yard-arms. — ”Going off, sir,” shouted Singleton, “she’s just started.” — ”Catch a turn with that brace. Catch a turn!” clamoured the master. Mr. Creighton, nearly suffocated and unable to move, made a mighty effort, and with his left hand managed to nip the rope.
    — ”All fast!” cried some one. He closed his eyes as if going off into a swoon, while huddled together about the brace we watched with scared looks what the ship would do now.
    She went off slowly as though she had been weary and disheartened like the men she carried. She paid off very gradually, making us hold our breath till we choked, and as soon as she had brought the wind abaft the beam she started to move, and fluttered our hearts. It was awful to see her, nearly overturned, begin to gather way and drag her submerged side through the water. The dead-eyes of the rigging churned the breaking seas. The lower half of the deck was full of mad whirlpools and eddies; and the long line of the lee rail could be seen showing black now and then in the swirls of a field of foam as dazzling and white as a field of snow. The wind sang shrilly amongst the spars; and at every slight lurch we expected her to slip to the bottom sideways from under our backs. When dead before it she made the first distinct attempt to stand up, and we encouraged her with a feeble and discordant howl. A great sea came running up aft and hung for a moment over us with a curling top; then crashed down