lapped once with a jerk that seemed to tear our hearts
out through our teeth, and instantly changed into a bunch of fluttering
narrow ribbons that tied themselves into knots and became quiet along
the yard. Captain Allistoun struggled, managed to stand up with his
face near the deck, upon which men swung on the ends of ropes, like nest
robbers upon a cliff. One of his feet was on somebody's chest; his
face was purple; his lips moved. He yelled also; he yelled, bending
down:--"No! No!" Mr. Baker, one leg over the binnacle-stand, roared
out:--"Did you say no? Not cut?" He shook his head madly. "No! No!"
Between his legs the crawling carpenter heard, collapsed at once,
and lay full length in the angle of the skylight. Voices took up the
shout--"No! No!" Then all became still. They waited for the ship to turn
over altogether, and shake them out into the sea; and upon the terrific
noise of wind and sea not a murmur of remonstrance came out from those
men, who each would have given ever so many years of life to see "them
damned sticks go overboard!" They all believed it their only chance; but
a little hard-faced man shook his grey head and shouted "No!" without
giving them as much as a glance. They were silent, and gasped. They
gripped rails, they had wound ropes'-ends under their arms; they
clutched ringbolts, they crawled in heaps where there was foothold; they
held on with both arms, hooked themselves to anything to windward with
elbows, with chins, almost with their teeth: and some, unable to crawl
away from where they had been flung, felt the sea leap up, striking
against their backs as they struggled upwards. Singleton had stuck to
the wheel. His hair flew out in the wind; the gale seemed to take its
life-long adversary by the beard and shake his old head. He wouldn't let
go, and, with his knees forced between the spokes, flew up and down like
a man on a bough. As Death appeared unready, they began to look about.
Donkin, caught by one foot in a loop of some rope, hung, head down,
below us, and yelled, with his face to the deck:--"Cut! Cut!" Two men
lowered themselves cautiously to him; others hauled on the rope. They
caught him up, shoved him into a safer place, held him. He shouted
curses at the master, shook his fist at him with horrible blasphemies,
called upon us in filthy words to "Cut! Don't mind that murdering fool!
Cut, some of you!" One of his rescuers struck him a back-handed blow
over the mouth; his head banged