away from it."

Daggett cheered his companion by a good deal of confident talk; but
Roswell was heartily rejoiced when, at the end of four-and-twenty hours
more, the Vineyard craft was pronounced entirely ready. It was near the
close of the day, and Gardiner was for sailing, or moving at once; but
Daggett offered several very reasonable objections. In the first place,
there was no wind; and Roswell's proposition to tow the schooners out into
the middle of the bay, was met by the objection that the people had been
hard at work for several days, and that they needed some rest. All that
could be gained by moving the schooners then, was to get them outside of
the skim of ice that now regularly formed every still night near the land,
but which was as regularly broken and dispersed by the waves, as soon as
the wind returned. Roswell, however, did not like the appearances of
things; and he determined to take his own craft outside, let Daggett do as
he might. After discussing the matter in vain, therefore, and finding that
the people of the other schooner had eaten their suppers and turned in, he
called all hands, and made a short address to his own crew, leaving it to
their discretion whether to man the boats or not. As Roswell had pointed
out the perfect absence of wind, the smoothness of the water, and the
appearances of a severe frost, or cold, for frost there was now, almost at
mid-day, the men came reluctantly over to his view of the matter, and
consented to work instead of sleeping. The toil, however, could be much
lessened, by dividing the crew into the customary watches. All that
Roswell aimed at was to get his schooner about a league from the cove,
which would be taking her without a line drawn from cape to cape, the
greatest danger of new ice being within the curvature of the crescent.
This he thought might easily be done in the course of a few hours; and,
should there come any wind, much sooner. On explaining this to the crew,
the men were satisfied.

Roswell Gardiner felt as if a load were taken off his spirits, when his
schooner was clear of the ground, and his mainsail was hoisted. A boat was
got ahead, and the craft was slowly towed out of the cove, the canvass
doing neither good nor harm. As the vessel passed that of Daggett the
last was on deck; the only person visible in the Vineyard craft. He wished
his brother-master a good night, promising to be out as soon as there was
any light next morning.

It would