then when we had made an end, he sent him,
that had lost his fingers, to keep a look-out whilst the other came to
the fire and ate his breakfast. And in the meanwhile, the bo'sun took us
down to collect weed and reeds for the night, and so we spent the greater
part of the morning, and when we had made an end of this, we returned to
the top of the hill, to discover how matters were going forward; thus we
found, from the one at the look-out, that they, in the hulk, had been
obliged to heave twice upon the big rope to keep it off the weed, and by
this we knew that the ship was indeed making a slow sternway towards the
island--slipping steadily through the weed, and as we looked at her, it
seemed almost that we could perceive that she was nearer; but this was no
more than imagination; for, at most, she could not have moved more than
some odd fathoms. Yet it cheered us greatly, so that we waved our
congratulations to the man who stood in the lookout in the
superstructure, and he waved back.

Later, we made dinner, and afterwards had a very comfortable smoke, and
then the bo'sun attended to our various hurts. And so through the
afternoon we sat about upon the crest of the hill overlooking the
hulk, and thrice had they in the ship to heave upon the big rope, and
by evening they had made near thirty fathoms towards the island, the
which they told us in reply to a query which the bo'sun desired me to
send them, several messages having passed between us in the course of
the afternoon, so that we had the carrier upon our side. Further than
this, they explained that they would tend the rope during the night, so
that the strain would be kept up, and, more, this would keep the ropes
off the weed.

And so, the night coming down upon us, the bo'sun bade us light the fires
about the top of the hill, the same having been laid earlier in the day,
and thus, our supper having been dispatched, we prepared for the night.
And all through it there burned lights aboard the hulk, the which proved
very companionable to us in our times of watching; and so, at last came
the morning, the darkness having passed without event. And now, to our
huge pleasure, we discovered that the ship had made great progress in the
night; being now so much nearer that none could suppose it a matter of
imagination; for she must have moved nigh sixty fathoms nearer to the
island, so that now we seemed able almost to recognize the face of the
man in the look-out; and ma