e knew Barbara's, and, because his
need was great, had not hesitated to use him and the girl. He was old
and must be resigned to sit at his desk and plan, but, as a rule, his
plans worked, and he had a talent for choosing his tools. When it was
possible, he used his tools carefully; he hated to overstrain fine
material.

_Terrier's_ regular lurch and roll indicated that she was steaming along
the coast, in some shelter from the wind that blew obliquely off the
land. By and by, however, the lurches got violent, and when Lister heard
the thud of water on deck he went up, and opening the door on the lee
side, looked out. Water splashed against the ledge that protected the
engine-room; the stack of coal worked and he heard big lumps fall. Spray
blew across the bulwarks and fell in heavy showers from a boat on the
skids. For a few moments this was all he could distinguish, and then he
saw slopes of water slanting away from the tug's low side. A half-moon
shone for a few moments between ragged clouds and was hidden.

Lister stepped across the ledge and went aft. _Terrier_ felt the drag of
the hulk astern, and he wanted to see how she was towing. He heard the
iron ring clang on the hook, and when he stopped by the horse, the big
tow-rope surged to and fro across the arch. The hulk steered wildly, and
if the sea got worse, he doubted if they could hold her. He knew where
he was, because he had steamed along the coast on board the cattle boat.
The Anglesey shore was fringed by reefs, the tide-races ran in white
turmoil across the ledges. The tide had now nearly run out, but when
they turned the corner at Carmel Point they would meet the flood stream
and the big combers the gale drove up channel. Going to the pilot-house,
Lister lighted his pipe.

"A fierce night!" he remarked to Brown, who peered through the
spray-swept glass. "I reckon you'll want to slow down when we make
Carmel."

The house was dark, but Lister saw the captain turn. "I'm bothered,"
Brown admitted. "We ought to push on, but while we might tow the hulk
under, we can't tow her down channel. We can't turn and run; it's
blowing down the Menai Strait like a bellows spout, and there's all the
Mersey sands to leeward. We have got to face the sea and try to make
Holyhead. Will your engines shove her through?"

"They'll give you six or seven knots, head to wind. Will your tow rope
hold?"

"I doubt. We have a steel hawser ready, but if she breaks the hemp rope
s