e-on by a breaking sea she
would to a dead certainty be turned bottom-up, when nothing could save
her occupants.

Captain Staunton stood at the tiller, intently watching the onward rush
of the mountainous seas as they came swooping down with upreared
threatening crests upon the launch. Presently, as the boat fell off a
trifle from the wind and the main-sail filled, he gave the order to "let
draw the jib-sheet." The weather sheet was let go and the lee one
hauled in like lightning, and the boat began to forge ahead. A sea came
swooping down upon the little craft, but it was not a dangerous one; the
skipper sent the boat manfully at it, and with a wild bound she rose
over the crest and plunged into the liquid valley beyond. The next sea
was a much more formidable one, but by luffing the boat just in the nick
of time she went through and over it, with no worse consequences than
the shipping of a dozen or so buckets of water, a mishap to which they
were by this time growing quite accustomed, and then there occurred a
very decided "smooth."

"Brail up the main-sail, boys," shouted the skipper cheerily, and in a
second it was done; the helm was put up, the boat's head fell off, and
away she went with a rush, broadside-on to the sea. With a sickening
heave she rose into the air as the next sea lifted her, and this time
too a little water came on board, but nothing to speak of; and by the
time the next wave caught her, her quarter was fairly turned to it, and
she was rushing away before the wind. The fore-sail was then set and
the main-sail stowed, and everybody sat down to watch the result.

The change was certainly for the better; for though a sea still
occasionally broke on board it did so with less violence than before,
and most of it now flowed off the deck and overboard again, instead of
falling into the body of the boat as before.

As soon as the fore-sail was set, Captain Staunton steered for the
pinnace, with the intention of ordering her also to bear up, as well as
to inquire whether they had seen either of the other boats.

Suddenly, Bob, who was watching the little speck in the distance which
showed against the horizon when both launch and pinnace happened to be
on the summit of a wave together, caught sight for a single instant of
what appeared to him to be an attempt at a signal made on board the
latter.

"Hillo!" he exclaimed, "What's wrong with the pinnace? They're waving
to us, sir."

"Indeed!"