awn as tight as the
men could work it.

This feat was performed again, and as final security the boatswain
formed a bight, which he thrust down and passed over the fan whose edge
was almost level with the surface.

Then as the boys sat breathing hard, and fancying that the daylight must
be close at hand, the boat gave another jerk, careening over sideways
towards the rudder, for the carpenter had slowly descended into the
bows, to crouch down and rest.

But the boatswain was still at work, with the Camel now for mate, and
between them they two were keeping up the quivering motion of the gig,
as, slowly and silently, they went on passing the thick soft Manilla
cable over the side, to sink down into the sea until the last of the
long snaky coils had gone.

The announcement of this fact was conveyed to the two lads by the motion
of the boat, Fitz learning it first by feeling his right hand as it hung
over the side begin to pass steadily through the water, which rippled
between his fingers; and as he snatched it out to stretch it forth as
far as he could reach, he for a few moments touched nothing. Then it
came in contact with the sides of the gunboat, and his heart gave a jump
and his nerves thrilled, for he knew that the first act of their
desperate venture was at an end, that the gig was gliding forward,
paddled by the sailors' hands, towards the gunboat's bows, so as to
reach one or other of the hanging anchors, up which he had engaged to
scramble and get on board to do his part, which, now that the other had
been achieved, seemed to be the most desperate of all.

"I shall never be able to go through with it," he seemed to groan to
himself in his despair; but at that moment, as if by way of
encouragement, he felt Poole's hand grip his arm, and at the touch the
remembrance of the skipper's words thrilled through his nerves, to give
him strength.

The next moment he was sitting up firmly and bravely in his place,
tucking up his cuffs as if for the fight, as he softly muttered--

"There is no such word as fail."

CHAPTER FIFTY ONE.

IS THE DEED DONE?

The boat had stopped, and Fitz had heard the faintest of faint clicks as
of iron against iron, for the hook in the carpenter's hands had lightly
come in contact with the port anchor, which was hanging in its place,
teaching them that it was the starboard that was down; and as Fitz
looked up sharply, he fully expected to see a row of faces peering over
the b