all of us, and making the men pull themselves
together and start up eager for action, abandoning all their craven
fears. "How vas it mit yous vorvarts! Ze sheep, I zink, vas in ze deep
vater astern."

"I'll soon tell you, sir," cried Tom Bullover in answer, jumping to the
side in a jiffey, with a coil of the lead line, which he took from the
main chains, where it was fastened. "I'll heave the lead, and you shall
have our soundings in a brace of shakes, sir!"

With that he clambered into the rigging, preparatory to carrying out his
intention; but he had no sooner got into the shrouds than he discovered
his task was useless.

"There's no need to sound, sir," he sang out; "the ship's high and dry
ashore up to the foremast, and there ain't more than a foot or two of
water aft of that, as far as I can see."

"Thunder!" roared out the skipper, who had in the meantime come up again
on the poop from the cuddy, where he and the first-mate had no doubt
been drowning their fright during the darkness with their favourite
panacea, rum, leaving the entire control of the ship after she struck to
Jan Steenbock. "Air thet so?"

"I says what I sees," replied Tom Bullover brusquely, he, like most of
the hands, being pretty sick by now of the captain's drunken ways, and
pusillanimous behaviour in leaving the deck when the vessel and all on
board were in such deadly peril; "and if you don't believe me, why, you
can look over the side and judge where the ship is for yerself!"

Captain Snaggs made no retort; but, moving to the port bulwarks from the
companion hatchway, where he had been standing, followed Tom's
suggestion of looking over the side, which indeed all of us, impelled by
a similar curiosity, at once did.

It was as my friend the carpenter had said.

The _Denver City_ was for more than two-thirds of her length high and
dry ashore on a sandy beach, that looked of a brownish yellow in the
moonlight, with her forefoot resting between two hillocks covered with
some sort of scrub. This prevented her from falling over broadside on,
as she was shored up just as if she had been put into dry dock for
caulking purposes; although, unfortunately, she was by no means in such
a comfortable position, nor were we on board either, as if she had been
in a shipbuilder's yard, with more civilised surroundings than were to
be found on a desert shore like this!

Her bilge abaft under the mizzen-chains was just awash; and, the water,
deep