and westward, but with the wind now dead aft
instead of over the starboard bow. But they had scarcely been scudding
five minutes when there occurred a sudden rending crack of timber, and
the mainmast, weakened by an unsuspected flaw in the heart of it,
snapped, about midway between the heel of it and the sheave, and went
over the bows, broaching-to the lugger with the drag of the mainsail in
the water, and nearly filling her as she came slowly round head to wind.

The friends were now in a situation of imminent peril, the squall raised
a very awkward choppy sea with almost magical rapidity, and, more than
half-full of water as the boat now was, she was liable to be swamped out
of hand by some unlucky sea pouring in over her bows; the occupants,
therefore, set to work with a will to bale her out, Stukely taking the
bucket from Dick and handing him the baler instead. But it was both
back-breaking and heartbreaking work; for, rendered heavy and sluggish
by the large quantity of water in her, the boat frequently failed to
rise to the lift of the seas, several of which poured in over her bows
from time to time, filling her faster than she could be freed by the
joint efforts of her crew; so that at length the unwelcome conviction
forced itself upon the two friends that, unless something quite
unforeseen happened, the boat must inevitably founder under them.

This conviction caused the toiling pair to cease from their labours for
a moment and glance about them anxiously, in the hope that the twilight
might reveal to them some craft to which they might signal for
assistance. To their great relief, they perceived that there was indeed
such a craft within a short two miles to the eastward of them; moreover
she was outward-bound, and was heading in such a direction that she
would probably pass within half a mile of the waterlogged lugger.

"Thanks be!" devoutly exclaimed Stukely, as his eyes fell upon her. "If
we can but attract her attention before the boat founders, we shall
escape, after all. Go on with your baling, Dick, while I wave my coat.
The thing to do is to catch the eye of somebody aboard that ship and
make it understood that we are in distress; then, since we can both
swim, it will not greatly matter if the lugger should go down before
yonder ship reaches us."

Dick obediently did as he was told, while Stukely, whipping off his
coat, sprang upon the mast thwart and, with his left arm flung round the
splintere