of her valves at work and freeing her of water.

In the intervals between the raging seas, twelve of the crew had now
been got into the lifeboat, when one man seeing her sheer closer than
usual towards the vessel, jumped from the top rail towards the
lifeboat. Instead of catching her at the propitious moment when she
was balanced on the summit of a wave, he sprang when she was rapidly
descending; this added ten feet to the height of his jump, and he fell
groaning into the lifeboat.

Having put the rescued men on the starboard side of the lifeboat, to
make room for the descent of the others, great seas again came fiercely
and furiously. As the tide was falling fast, the water became
shallower, and all around was heard only the hoarse roar of the storm,
and there was seen only the advancing lines of billows, tossing their
snowy manes as they came on with speed.

Again and again the lifeboat was submerged, and the man lashed to the
mast had to ease off the lines he held till the seas had passed.

'It was as if the heavens was falling atop of us; but we had no fear
then, we were all a-takin' of it as easy as if we was ashore, but it
was afterwards we thought of it.'

But not so the rescued crew who were in the lifeboat; some of them
wanted to get back to the ship, which was fast breaking up, but one of
their number had, strange to say, been rescued before--twice before,
some say--by the same lifeboat on the very same Goodwin Sands, and he
encouraged his comrades and said, 'She's all right! she's done it
before! Good boat! good boat!' And then the rest of the crew came
down, or rather along the two lines, held fast and eased off as before,
till, last man down, or rather along the lines, came the captain.
'Come along, captain! Come along. There's a booser coming!' and
Roberts aft, second coxswain, strained at the helm to sheer the
lifeboat off, before the sea came.

It came towering. 'Quick! Captain! Come!' Had the captain rapidly
come along the lines, he would have been safe in the lifeboat, but he
hesitated just for an instant, and then the sea came--a moving mountain
of broken water, one of the most appalling objects in Nature--breaking
over the foreyard of the wreck, sweeping everything before it on the
deck, and covering lifeboat and men. Everything was blotted out by the
green water, as they once again wrestled in their strong grasp of the
thwarts, while the roar and smother of drowning rang in their ea