the rudder, across which he now sat astride, to grip
it with his knees. The man wanted no telling what to do. He had
rehearsed it all mentally again and again, and quick and clever of
finger, he passed the rope through the opening between rudder and
stern-post, and drew upon it softly and steadily till he had it taut,
and was dragging upon the cable. Old Burgess was working with him as if
one mind animated the two bodies.

He knew what would come, and waited as the spiral strands of the rope
passed through his hand; and when it began to grow taut he was ready to
raise up the end of the big soft cable, pass it upwards, and hold it in
place, so that it gradually assumed the form of a loop some ten feet
long, and it was the head of that loop that jammed as it was drawn tight
against the opening between stern-post and rudder, and very slowly laced
tightly in position by means of the rope.

But this took time, and twice over Chips ceased working, as if he had
failed; but it was only for a rest and a renewal of his strength, before
he ceased for the third time and made a longer wait. But no one made a
sign; no one stirred, though the two lads sat in agony, building up in
imagination a very mountain of horror and despair branded failure in
their minds, for they could hardly conceive that their plans were being
carried out so silently and so well.

At last Fitz gripped Poole's arm again so as to whisper to him; but the
whisper did not pass, for at that moment, after being perfectly still
for some time, the boat began to pulsate again, for the carpenter was
hard at work once more, his hands acting in combination with those of
the boatswain, for, still very slowly, working like a piece of
machinery, they began to haul upon the cable in the boat. At the first
tightening that cable now seemed to begin to live like some huge
serpent, and creep towards them, the life with which it was infused
coming, however, from the Camel's hands, as, feeling that it was wanted,
he began to pass it along, raising each coil so that it should not touch
against the gunwale of the boat, or scrape upon a thwart.

He too knew what was going on, as between them, the boatswain in the
bows, the carpenter still astride the upper portion of the rudder, they
got up enough of the cable to form another loop, whose head was softly
plunged down into the water, passed under one fan of the great screw and
over another, and then, its elasticity permitting, dr